Ministry and dtac to revitalise tourism, businesses in 152 Creative Industry Villages

CIV will harness cultural tourism and digital technology in 152 villages to boost individual incomes and local economies.

To achieve this goal, the Industry Ministry has partnered with dtac Net-for-Living to allow locals to promote their villages as tourism destinations by selling products, food and accommodation online.

Dtac will provide digital training, equipping rural entrepreneurs with online marketing skills including product photography and social commerce. The mobile operator boasts Net-for-Living can increase incomes by 40-50 per cent by allowing small businesses to build a digital presence.

Dtac is also expanding its 700MHz network to the targeted villages, ensuring they have suitable voice and data services.

Thirdly, dtac said it will promote the villages' entrepreneurs to its 19 million customers through the operator’s reward programme. The dtac programme provides freebies and discounts at over 30,000 outlets all over the country. It also regularly features small restaurants and vendors to boost their incomes.

The Industry Ministry expects CIV to boost the number of tourists to rural destinations by 68 per cent and product sales by 76 per cent.