KUCHING: Sarawak Tourism Board (STB) chief executive officer Gracie Geikie hopes that hoteliers in the state would offer special rates to travellers from Singapore since their number is expected to rise.

She said that with Tiger Airways coming in as the fourth airline to service the Kuching-Singapore route yesterday, the state could expect more travellers from the Lion City and this called for a concerted effort between STB and the private sector to come up with good promotions.

“If you have noticed, Singapore hoteliers are already offering special rates to travellers from Kuching so likewise I hope hoteliers here would do the same.

“I hope this will be reciprocated by the hoteliers here because it will certainly give a good boost to the industry,” she told reporters after welcoming the inaugural flight of Tiger Airways to the city at Kuching International Airport yesterday.

She said STB was indeed happy with the coming in of more airlines to Sarawak, but there was more work to be done for the other tourism players to ensure more travellers continue to come to the state.

Presently, she said Sarawak has 5,465 rooms offered by hotels (three-star and above), 2,600 of which are in Kuching.

Gracie disclosed that between now and 2010, Sarawak could see 3,000 more rooms with the coming up of other hotels like Merdeka Plaza, Boulevard Hotel, Sheraton Four-Points, Tune Hotel and more. This number, of course, does not include bed-and-breakfast accommodations and other inns.

Sarawak Tourism Federation president Wee Hong Seng said private tourism players had already set up a consortium to prepare tour packages for travellers from Singapore.

“We are trying to come up with different packages for the different airlines as we do not want to offer the same all through.

“We want to incorporate more activities and attractions so there will be more choices,” he said.