New Hotels Offer Corp. Group Options In Borneo

<I>Sabah, Malaysia</I> - Caught up in the lures of incentive travel offerings in the Caribbean and Hawaii, few American groups find their way to the Asian island of Borneo. Yet certain types of U.S. corporate groups have sought out this English-speaking island, especially those from automotive firms--such as Toyota--and media-sales companies, said Steve Goodling, director of marketing, North America for Shangri-La Hotels, which just last fall opened its second hotel in the Malaysian city of Kota Kinabalu.

New hotels offer not only outdoor adventure, but also first-rate meeting facilities.

"This isn't a place for shopping," said Goodling. "It's more for hiking, snorkeling, rafting and watching the orangutans."

Adventure-oriented groups usually add Borneo to a Bangkok, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur or Singapore sojourn, mixing an Asia city with an exotic island resort, Goodling said.

But Borneo--where headhunting thrived until the 1930s--"isn't all trekking with a tent," said George Wee, general manager of Shangri-La's new Rasa Ria Resort.

For team building, the hotel has launched an Outward Bound&shy;type experiential program called Asia Works. "We rough them up all day, but then they come back to the resort at night."

The first hotel to open in Kota Kinabalu in 10 years, Rasa Ria is situated on a more-pristine coast of the South China Sea, 45 minutes outside the airport and town. In the midst of 400 acres of tropical jungle, the 331-room property features an 8,000-square-foot, 700-seat ballroom, eight meeting and function rooms and an 18-hole golf course. The $60 million resort also has set up a 64-acre wildlife nature reserve in its adjacent hills, featuring hiking trails and free-ranging animals, including a few orangutans.

A 30-minute flight or five-hour drive to the town of Sandakan reveals a full-fledged, world-famous orangutan sanctuary. The Sepilok sanctuary, set on 4,000 hectares of rainforest, serves as a halfway house for about 90 motherless orangutans (Malay for 'man of the forest').

Two hours outside Kota Kinabalu, the 13,455-foot Mount Kinabalu, the highest mountain in Southeast Asia (fastest climbing time: two days, one night), contains the world's largest variety of plants--about 11,000 species--and orchids--1,250 species--as well as 36 varieties of bananas.

Kota Kinabalu also will gain a new Pan Pacific hotel. Slated for a September opening, the 500-room hotel will include an 800-seat grand ballroom, 200-seat function room, golf course, teleconferencing facilities and Pacific (executive) floor.