The promotion for “Visit Malaysia Year 2026” has started in a big way in January 2025. Malaysia is aiming to raise the number of tourists arriving to 35 million. This is phantastic news for everyone in the tourism industry and (people) transportation sectors. While the Ministry of Tourism promotes the general idea, will those offering bus services capitalise on the incredible amount of promotion that could land them millions of rides?

With the CAM CO-STAR being the protagonist, Stefan Pertz, Editor of Asian Buses, Malaysia is taking the concept of storytelling to new levels in reporting about commercial vehicles. Living the Gemba spirit that others in the commercial vehicle industry practice, he and his media colleagues will take the wheel, not only when it comes to writing, but in demonstrating the capabilities of modern buses as an asset to countries and companies.

Stefan Pertz, Editor, Asian Trucker

Transcending Content

Together with four other journalists, Asian Buses will tour the state in what is a unique tour, taking the group from Kuching to Sarawak. Showcasing the many attractions as well as getting in touch with businesses and associations, the group will demonstrate how a small tour group can maximise the experience by travelling in a minibus. Participants hail from various publications; only Asian Buses is directly linked to the commercial vehicle market. As each of the journalists will experience the same tour, however through their own eyes, stories will cover a wide range of topics, centred around and involving the bus.

To give the tour immediate exposure, Asian Buses created a micro site. Access is given to all participating journalists, who can immediately post while on the tour. Once the tour concludes, more content will be created and published in channels outside the website created for the Sarawak Roadtour. A true omni-channel campaign, it will incorporate print, social media and on-the-ground activation.

The Vehicle

The CAM CO-STAR, distributed in Malaysia by Sendok Group, is a 20-Seater that best suited to address the needs of tour operators, park operators and factories having to shuttle workers. With this nimble vehicle, powered by a 2.9L / 150 Hp engine, it is an ideal vehicle for inner city tours as well as overland rides.

During the customer event on 25th June, CAM Malaysia will have the entire range of vehicles on display. Placer-X, Co-Star and Kingo with manual and automatic transmission will be featured. “At the event, those interested in the buses and vans CAM Malaysia offers can hop on and go for a test drive.” Besides, he points out that the participants of the Sarawak Road tour with CAM CO-STAR will be present to talk about the driving experience.

The CAM CO-STAR will stop in four major cities in Sarawak

Highlight in Bus Travel

Considering the opportunities now arising through the opening of the Pan Borneo Highway, in conjunction with the promotion of Malaysia as a tourist destination, Pertz hopes that the Sarawak Tour with CAM CO-STAR will inspire others to make buses their preferred mode of transportation when exploring Sarawak.

“Visit Malaysia 2026 brings out the best of what Malaysia has to offer to the world in a single, event-packed year. This page is created to bring us together in promoting and contributing to the success of Visit Malaysia Year 2026. Together, we can showcase Malaysia's best to the world,” he said.

Accessibility to Content

When articulating the idea behind the initiative, called Sarawak Roadtour with CAM CO-STAR, the first thing that comes to mind is “Access”. What the tour gives is access to Sarawak as a tourist destination. This website mentioned as a content carrier is built based on this idea.

The campaign aims to give access to more people wanting to know about Sarawak as a tourism and business location. Many people don’t know about the beauty of Malaysia. Or the business opportunities there are. When developing the site, the concept of “Access” led to expanding this through the use of online tools. Today, accessibility tools give wider reach to those that may have problems with normal websites.

Accessibility tools have been added to a microsite built to promote the tour

Having accessibility tools on a website is important for several ethical, legal, and practical reasons. Together with web development partner Klaus Fuchs Communication (KFC – Humorous Germans living in Malaysia!), Asian Buses hopes that the addition of such functions will allow an even wider audience to view the site. “From two decades of writing about commercial vehicles, we know that the players in these markets do not get the attention they deserve; Transportation is not often seen as glamorous,” Pertz added.

But Why

Sending off the vehicle to East Malaysia, Ms Gwee Chin Li, Head of Business Development, CAM Malaysia, is clearly excited about the Sarawak Tour with CAM CO-STAR. Adorned with the custom livery for the trip, the vehicle is not just the co-star, but the actual main protagonist.

The tour itself is somewhat unusual; however, Chin Li has good reasons to put effort into the campaign. Having built a reputation among tour bus operators, she wanted to give the brand a further boost. “We realise that there is a lot of potential in East Malaysia. This activity is an excellent opportunity for us to boost our brand,” she says.

The initiative is to inspire people to consider road transport, by bus, and Chin Li hopes that the tour will be an eye opener for the market. According to her, bus travel is very popular in peninsular Malaysia, however the market is not fully developed in East Malaysia. This is because previously, cities in East Malaysia lacked connectivity via suitable highways. Now that the Pan Borneo Highway is completed, the situation is changing. “Now we have opportunities we can exploit.”

With an international reach of this campaign, Chin Li hopes that there will be an increased from tourists to not only flock to East Malaysia but make buses their preferred way of moving about. Having several other models in the portfolio, the CO-STAR is yet another vehicle local transporters can consider for their operations. With 12-seater vans to 28-seater minibuses in the product line up, a suitable model will surely be available from CAM Malaysia. As a use case, Chin Li said that she can envision that families may take up the idea of renting a 20-seater to go on vacation.

Source : Asian Trucker

Editor : Linda

Views : 4567

Tags : Sarawak Roadtour CAM CO-STAR Bus