Flag-Off: the Sarawak Roadtour with CAM CO-STAR Highlights Buses for Tourism during CAM Day in Kuching
Officially underway, the Sarawak Roadtour with CAM CO-Star 2025 was officially flagged off by YB Dato Sri Haji Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah, Minister of Tourism, Creative Industry & Performing Arts, at the Roxy Hotel, Kuching here this morning. The tour, involving international media driving the CAM CO-STAR minibus from Kuching to Sibu, Bintulu and Miri. Highlighting the beauty of the state of Sarawak, the initiative aims to support the Malaysian governments’ Visit Malaysia Year 2026 campaign by highlighting buses as being the vehicle most suited to support local tour operators.
Guest of honour for the event, YB Dato Sri Haji Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah, Minister of Tourism, Creative Industry & Performing Arts, told the guests gathered at the Roxy Hotel “We appreciate the effort made by CAM Malaysia to bring this Roadtour to our shores. With the economic development of our state, its proximity to Indonesia’s new capital, buses paly a crucial role not only for tourism, but for other industry sectors as well.” Officially flagging off the drive from Kuching to Miri, he told the gathered guests that the Sarawak Roadtour with CAM CO-STAR has already made a significant impact as many business leaders in the state talk about it.
CAM Day is carnival hosted by CAM Malaysia, organised in Kuching to connect with users in Sarawak; to celebrate and to create — stronger ties, new ideas, and better mobility for all. At the event, a line up of CAM people transporters are on display including the automatic KINGO 6AT, PLACER-X and 20/28 Seater CO-STAR minibus, a Free 2 Years Service Promotion is also running until 30th September 2025. *TnC Apply
To test drive while exploring important tourist attractions, a group of seven journalists will be visiting Kuching, Sibu, Bintulu and Miri. At each location, activities involving the CAM CO-STAR will take place, involving local business communities. Kapitan Goh Kee Seng, Huong Seng Motor Trading, “It is important for us to showcase the versatility of buses to spur creative uses. Sarawak’s economy and creative business ideas involving buses of this size are springing up around us,” he said during the event which saw a crowd of 100 people.
The CAM CO-STAR, distributed by R&A Marketing Sdn Bhd – CAM Malaysia, is a 20-Seater that best suited to address the needs of tour operators, park operators, factories having to shuttle workers, it is also a highly versatile vehicle that can be modified into Motorhomes. 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 showcased their entire range of buses. Placer-X, Co-Star and Kingo with manual and automatic transmission were featured. “At the event, those interested in the buses and vans CAM Malaysia offers can hop on and go alongside the CO-STAR. Guests that the opportunity to utilise any of the vehicles for a test drive. Media participants of the Sarawak Road tour with CAM CO-STAR were also present to talk about the driving experience thus far.
The tour itself is somewhat unusual as it is the first such initiative undertaken by the brand; however, Ms Gwee Chin Li, Head of Business Development of CAM Malaysia, has good reasons to put effort into the campaign. Having built a reputation among tour bus operators, CAM Malaysia aims 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. In addition, by making the vehicle accessible to operators in each of the cities the tour will stop, Gwee hopes to gather valuable feedback from the market to further improve on the brand performance.
The initiative is to inspire people to consider road transport, by bus, and Gwee 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.”
Asian Buses, the premium provider of communications channels for the bus industry in Southeast Asia is CAM Malaysia’s partner in organising this self-drive event for the media participants joining the Sarawak Tour with CAM CO-STAR. Stefan Pertz, Editor, Asian Trucker Media stated that “This is a very exciting and important event for us. We get to experience first hand the handling and comfort of the vehicle. This tour being a blueprint for tourists to follow, we hope that our concept will inspire others.” At the heart of the effort made by the organising parties is the ambition to support the Visit Malaysia Year 2026 campaign.
With an international reach of this campaign, Gwee hopes that there will be an increased interest from tourists to not only flock to East Malaysia, but making 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, Gwee said that he can envision that families may take up the idea of renting a 20-seater to go on vacation.
A sequel to the Sarawak Roadtour with CAM CO-STAR is being planned, taking the vehicle to Sabah later in the year. Those wishing to learn more about the buses offered by CAM Malaysia are encouraged to contact with their local dealer.