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Sail
BIMP-EAGA
Exploring Equator-Asia |
Organisation
Sail
BIMP-EAGA
has been adopted by the BIMP-EAGA Tourism Council and the
Joint Tourism Development Cluster (government and private
sector) as a key element in the Strategic Plan for tourism
development in BIMP-EAGA.
The cruises present
local tourism authorities, tour associations and
operators with the opportunity to introduce their natural
and cultural attractions to the international cruising yacht
community.
The cruises present
yacht owners with the opportunity to explore new places,
encounter unique lifestyles, experience beautiful
anchorages, and truly benefit from the self-sufficient
capabilities and independent lifestyle of yacht ownership.
Background:
Sail BIMP-EAGA
is created, organised and managed from the Bandar Seri
Begawan offices of Intrepid Management Service Sdn, Bhd, a
Brunei based company, and licensed tour operator.
The concept for
Sail BIMP-EAGA
arose during the
BIMP-EAGA Business Council's Oct/Nov 2008 conference on
poverty alleviation through sustainable Community-based
Ecotourism, held in Manado, Indonesia. Allan Riches, - the
Managing Director of Intrepid Management Services Sdn Bhd -
proposed cruising yachts as a means to bring visitors to
communities and attractions in BIMP-EAGA, without the
expense or delay of waiting for shore infrastructure
developments, such as accommodation, water treatment
plants, electricity systems, communication services etc.
This
concept was subsequently endorsed by the BIMP-EAGA Business
Council and the BIMP-EAGA Tourism Council. Establishment of the events was confirmed as a principle
target for BIMP-EAGA tourism marketing in 2010/11 at the
BIMP-EAGA Joint Tourism Development (ie: private and
government sectors) Strategic Planning meetings in November
2009, at Kota Kinabalu.
The
Equator Asia
cruise has been assigned Signature Event status for
BIMP-EAGA tourism, because it includes travel in each of the
four BIMP-EAGA nations.
Planning and local resources:
Sail BIMP-EAGA
is supported by the knowledge, resources and organisational
capabilities of local tourism related SME's, tour
associations and government agencies. For example:
-
The BIMP-EAGA
Tourism Council representatives in the four BIMP-EAGA
territories help provide private and public sector
contacts, information and support to facilitate the
Sail BIMP-EAGA
routes.
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Customs,
Immigration, Quarantine and Security officials who are
part of the BIMP-EAGA CIQS Task Force provide advice and
formality support compatible with their goals to
streamline and harmonise formalities in BIMP-EAGA.
-
Local tourism
associations, such as the Mindanao Tourism Council, the
Palawan Tourism Council, and the Sarawak Travel Association.
Their knowledge of venues, local operators, community
based SME developments, wildlife preservation and
cultural heritage projects helps create variations to
the annual cruise routes.
-
Government tourism
officials who participate in the BIMP-EAGA JTD (Joint
Tourism Development - ie: private and public sector)
Cluster planning and co-ordination roles and who assist
the private sector to implement
Sail BIMP-EAGA.
-
Individual tour
operators, venue owners, community based ecotour
operators, resorts, marinas, event managers etc along
the rally routes who provide local services, activities
and support for the yachts.
Operations:
The
capability to operate
Sail
BIMP-EAGA
is based upon three
existing business activities of Intrepid Management Services Sdn Bhd.
Combining their relevant capabilities creates the
organisational framework, the technical expertise and the
operational co-ordination for
Sail
BIMP-EAGA.
-
BRUNEI BAY
RADIO provides
low-cost HF/SSB radio email and voice services for
yachts and
other small craft
throughout the region. This reliable communications
capability gives the ability to manage
Sail BIMP-EAGA operations,
respond to questions from participating yachts, distribute local information updates,
plus receive position reports and updates.
-
INTREPIDYACHTING
incorporates over thirty years experience with sailing
and boating activities. This includes owning and
operating yachts, support services in Brunei for
visiting yachts and superyachts, and conducting Yachtmaster
scheme training. This experience is applied to the
development of routes and their timing in relation to
prevailing winds information. It also underpins
information passed to local venues and organisers for
main stops and anchorages along the route; so local
people can prepare for the yachts' requirements.
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INTREPIDTOURS
is the activity and ecotour
business established in Brunei at the suggestion of
the Director of Tourism - Sheikh Jamaluddin - to develop
more activity based tour products in Brunei, to train
local guides, and assist local SMEs establish tour
operations. Experience operating Intrepid Tours is
applied to the operation of
Sail BIMP-EAGA.
The
Sail BIMP-EAGA organising team
in the Bandar Seri Begawan office is lead by Allan Riches, an Australian,
and resident of Bandar Seri Begawan since 1993, when he was
invited to Brunei to establish their Outward Bound centre. A
qualified educator (B.Ed., M.Ed.Admin) and Member of the
Australian College of Education, Allan's work
has focused on adventure based experiential education. As a Churchill Fellow, he
visited
Outward Bound and related experiential education and
adventure travel organisations in the UK/Europe and North
America. He
directed operations and helped expand Outward Bound
Australia into the largest Outward Bound centre in
the world, prior to coming to Brunei. A sailor since the age of
11, yacht owner since 1991, and a Yachting Australia
certified Yachtmaster Instructor, his combination of skills
and experience underpins the
design and operation of
Sail BIMP-EAGA.
Cruise Co-ordination:
By design,
Sail
BIMP-EAGA
routes encompass areas
that are remote from marinas, cities, commercialised
areas, and normal communication facilities. The routes focus
on regions which have retained much of the natural and
cultural heritage. This makes them unique and of interest to
the adventurous spirit of many cruising yacht owners.
Communications to
co-ordinate and manage each
Sail
BIMP-EAGA
cruise, for
communication between participating yachts, and between
yachts and
Sail
BIMP-EAGA
staff in our Brunei
office, will be provided by HF/SSB
radio and HF/SSB radio email.
All participating
yachts will require a functional HF/SSB radio and
SailMail
service, so they
can obtain weather information, contact other yachts in the
fleet for information or advice, and maintain email
communication with
Sail
BIMP-EAGA
staff.
Participating yachts
will receive a free subscription to BRUNEI BAY
RADIO's
extended HF/SSB email service.
This service works using the same software/hardware as
SailMail, and from within the same copy of the on-board
software that creates, send/receives and displays SailMail
messages. The BBRemail subscription provides additional
daily connection time, and the ability to send/receive
attachments (eg: pdf files, jpg photos etc). Sending a
small photo of a damaged/broken part can make a big
difference to getting the right item sent; first time.
This additional HF/SSB
radio email capacity provided by the BBRemail
subscription will ensure a prompt flow of
communication between participants and the
Sail
BIMP-EAGA
office. This extended email communication
capability provides access to information, advice, parts
orders and other support to help overcome numerous
practical issues of short-handed yacht cruising in isolated
areas.
BBRemail will also enable yachts
to update their blogs and websites on route, or from a
tranquil anchorage, so participants can assist the tourism
promotion efforts of the BIMP-EAGA Tourism Council.
Government and private sector organisations in BIMP-EAGA
support
Sail
BIMP-EAGA
because it is seen as a means to facilitate the
protection and preservation of the traditional knowledge,
culture and environment by creating tourism based income to
replace income from practices that degrade or damage these
assets. We need your help to inform others and encourage
them to also explore and enjoy
Equator Asia - The Heart of Biodiversity.
So please bring your camera, creative writing skills, photo
editing software, and list of websites, yacht clubs,
yachting magazines and boating newsletter email addresses!
Direct written
communications between individual yachts and
Sail
BIMP-EAGA
staff will
minimise the
risk of confused
communications, and should eliminate incorrect or incomplete
transfer of messages which can lead to wasted effort and
unnecessary concern. It also avoids one or two yachts being
burdened with the task of message relay and distribution for
the fleet.
A reliable HF/SSB radio installation, and the low-cost radio
email services it supports, help make the amazing
places in
BIMP-EAGA
accessible to those
cruisers with children doing distance learning and also those
cruisers who need to maintain contact with the business or
investments that fund your cruising. There is so much more
to see, try, learn and enjoy in
BIMP-EAGA
than just what can be experienced when constrained by the
need to cruise from one Wi-Fi equipped marina, anchorage or
yacht club, to the next.
If you need to arrange a
SailMail or BBRemail
subscription, or fit a
new HF/SSB radio, or buy a Pactor modem before
the rally starts, please contact the regional Pactor modem
distributor - Marc Robinson, in Sydney: www.pca.cc
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marc@pca.cc
. Marc is expert at making new HF/SSB radio email
systems work with the minimum of fuss. He's also great at troubleshooting existing systems.
If you would like to add
your contact details to our database to be updated with
rally information, please click on the For inquiries ....
link below.
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