Rosnina Yaacob: Helping to Grow the Langkawi Brand
Rosnina confesses that her posting at LADA is indeed educational because her role requires her to manage and execute tourism projects on behalf of the government on the macro and micro levels. Her role also teaches her about the need to manage Langkawi as a brand, managing perceptions towards it, and understanding local psyche while engaging the island’s grassroots community.
“In managing an island destination, you have to go layer by layer, involving not just the hardware such as physical places and settings but also the sofware, which refers to the readiness of the community to receive tourists and provide efficient services to them,” states Rosnina.
“(Our role) is more of inculcating ‘Think Tourism, Act Tourism’ by continuously educating the public so that Langkawi remains an attractive destination. In general, Langkawi natives are generally welcoming and warm towards tourists,” she claims.
Though people thought that selling Langkawi would be easy, Rosnina does not think so. “Selling Langkawi as an island is not the same as selling the whole of Malaysia. Since it is only an island, we are required to continuously come up with new things like events or attractions with limited means and resources to keep on attracting international tourists to the island. We consistently try to push Langkawi to maintain its standing within the top ten position in Asia despite constraints,” Rosnina attests.
LADA is always interested in increasing tourist arrivals to the island. She recognises that Langkawi still has a fair share of tourists from Europe, considered as the island’s main clientele who stay for a long time, even up to a month. “We are also seeing the increase of Chinese tourists, including those coming in through charter flights from the second tier cities like Guangzhou and Ningbo, who generally stay for up to eight days and are high spenders,” says Rosnina.
During her tenure, she has been involved in various events mooted and executed by LADA such as the Langkawi International Laksa Carnival (LILAC), which is a niche event held at Laman Padi and now into its fifth year, as well as Ironman Malaysia in Langkawi, which is logistically handled by LADA.
Rosnina always considers Langkawi as a naturally unique geological park that must be protected at all costs. “It has what it takes to become a premier international destination. In this post-modern era, when the rest of the world is becoming more developed, time- and spiritually-starved people will surely miss being one with nature, seeking destinations that allows them to do so. Langkawi is ripe to fulfil such demand,” Rosnina foresees.
When being asked how she manages her team, Rosnina prefers the approach of treating her team as family. “My mornings start by sitting down and having breakfast with my team while discussing matters that we need to settle for the day. We work together, we sit down and eat together, we have open discussion as to how to execute the tasks at hand and share responsibility, for example those in the events unit would step in to help the marketing unit and vice versa. My team has been involved in so many events, marketing and promotional activities that I sometimes lost count. They even helped in adjudicating during the recent Langkawi International Tourism Awards (LITA),” mentions Rosnina.
“I believe each one of them is special and have their own strengths. As human beings we all need to be treated with tenderness, care and compassion. I also need to be flexible with them especially on matters involving their health and family matters, which could affect their performance at work,” she professes.
Rosnina hopes that Langkawi remains as an established eco-destination for years to come with its flora and fauna remain intact. “All forms of development must ensure that the island’s natural heritage is not compromised. We need to have balanced development and live with nature. The local community must also take ownership in maintaining the island’s natural environment since they are the only ones that have the local knowledge and best understand the island. I pray that Langkawi eventually becomes a hub for tropical bio-diversity,” quotes Rosnina.
What Rosnina’s team members has to say about tourism in Langkawi:
Azlina Ahmad Zubair, Head Senior Assistant Manager, Tourism Division
Tourism is fast paced and requires us to meet people from all walks of life. My task is to enhance cruise tourism in Langkawi and matters relating to it. Currently there are 89 ships that use Langkawi as port of call. These ships bring thousands of passengers to Langkawi and when they arrive, they patronise local businesses, boosting local economy. I am also focusing on encouraging more international meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions (MICE) businesses to be held in Langkawi such as the upcoming aviation conference that will bring in 220 people from London to be held at Meritus Pelangi in early 2016. The Asian markets, particularly from China and Singapore, are significant MICE contributors to Langkawi, albeit with shorter staying periods compared to long haul. It is my hope that Langkawi remains popular and the prosperity derived from tourism is equitably shared with the island’s grassroots community.
Lina Azlina Zali, Administrative Officer
Ever since I joined LADA’s Tourism Division, I have learned various issues concerning the industry such as getting involved in the branding and marketing aspect for the Langkawi Tourism Blueprint. Earlier, we had three different taglines sending differing messages: Magical 99 Islands in the Sun, Langkawi Geopark and the Jewel of Kedah. The journey towards arriving at our current tagline, Naturally Langkawi – the essence of the Langkawi brand and largely agreed by the industry players – was educational because it taught us that we do not need to be everything to everybody and instead focus on Langkawi’s major strengths. As a matter of fact, the new tagline aptly encompasses the other taglines. I hope that in the next few years, Langkawi will not become overdeveloped but remain natural as it should be because that is what tourists want to see in the first place.
Nor Azman Yussuf @ Abu Bakar, Assistant Administrative Officer
I have been involved in various aspects within the Tourism Division since I first joined LADA over 10 years ago. The island has changed tremendously over the years. Langkawi then was not as popular as now and was only within the radar of travellers from certain markets like the United Kingdom, Germany and the Middle East, including those from the region and domestic. Through the Langkawi Tourism Blueprint, the island’s brand and marketing approach now is more targeted, highlighting niche products that are experiential and unique. These days, to increase awareness towards Langkawi’s offerings, we utilise new media and social networks. Among the events that LADA focusses on are the nature-based sporting ones like the Ironman that attracted 1,400 participants with 85% of them foreigners in 2015, boosting arrivals and maintaining Langkawi’s relevance as a sports tourism destination. Next year, LADA will organise a new event called the Tuba Trail Run in April 2016 as catalyst to open up the geologically rich and largely untouched Tuba Island to travellers. I hope that everybody on the island, particularly the tourism industry players, come together and work closely towards the same aim, which is to maintain Langkawi’s position as a popular and sustainable tourism destination.
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