Sabah Tourism Board presses pause on Instagram after getting locked out

Sabah Tourism Board's (STB) Instagram account will officially be inactive for the time being. CEO Noredah Ohtman explained that the team had tried to regain access to the account over several weeks but to no avail. "While this is relatively disappointing, we accept that we have to move on. Such is the nature of social media," she added, given that the group has acquired close to 100k followers in the past 11 years. 

Despite the disruption faced on its Instagram platform, STB's promotional activities have not ceased. According to Noredah, the tourism board will continue to develop content for other media channels, from traditional to digital vices. 

"While it may be deemed as a huge loss to our destination promotion, this is the nature of social media. It cannot and should never be the focal point of promotions. Integration is still the best approach. Digital media itself continuously evolves, keeping us all on our toes with its new algorithms," she explained. As the promotional arm of tourism for the State of Sabah, it is thus STB's responsibility to ensure that the tourism board embraces and pivots to ensure promotions continue at their best, she said. 

STB is currently present on YouTube, LinkedIn, Twitter, Naver, Weibo, and WeChat. A+M has reached out to the brand for additional information. 

Last year, the tourism board partnered with Boost to support the revival of the state's tourism sector and overall economy. According to Boost previously, the partnership contributed towards merchant recovery following the reopening of interstate travel under the National Recovery Plan. As part of the collaboration, the two parties incentivised and encouraged spending in the domestic tourism industry by allowing Boost users to redeem RM100 credit into their Sabah Tourism Board Partner Wallet from the BoostUP Catalogue withtin the eWallet app. 

At the same time, STB also curated an audio guide in 2020 to offer listeners the chance to explore Sabah using their senses and the power of imagination. The Sabah Sensory guided listeners through a series of sounds from various locations and events around Sabah. From the calming sound of the South China Sea waves to the mysterious sounds of the world’s oldest rainforest, the sensory travel experience aimed to evoke interest and introduce Sabah in a different manner.

Photo courtesy: 123RF

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