EXPLORE BORNEO THROUGH E-BORNEO.COM
Introduction
Borneo has mystified the rest of the world for centuries with its incomparable scenic beauty, flora and fauna, island paradise, rainforest eco-system, and pharmaceutical treasures, as well as its diverse culture, race, language and religion. In line with the Internet and Information Technology (IT) revolution in the 90s, it was rather timely for “Borneo to go Electronic” to continue mystifying the world electronically.
The Beginning – Borneo Portal
For this reason, the Beta version of the first comprehensive electronic portal or gateway to one of the oldest island-continent in the world was pre-launched on 11 November 1999. It was aptly named Electronic Borneo during those early years, or in short, E-Borneo.Com.
On 2nd December 1999, E-Borneo.Com was launched at our very own server and domain name: http://www.e-borneo.com. The concept of E-Borneo.Com was crystalised in early 1999 by a group of Borneons from various parts of the island-continent. The core group is based in Sabah. But the web site was created in Borneo and developed fully by Borneons and friends. We built the site through various contributions from Borneons and peoples from all over the world who have some form of affiliation to Borneo, either through interest, research, hobbies, and so forth regardless of nationality or race.
Basically, the initial E-Borneo.Com web site aimed to literally “bring” Borneo to the whole wide world by providing mostly free information, contents, and links related to Borneo as well as other topics of interest. Although the term “Borneon” may officially be defined as the peoples and expatriates from the island of Borneo (e.g. which made up of the Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak, the kingdom of Brunei Darussalam, and the Indonesian province of Kalimantan), the site catered for all citizens of the increasingly borderless planet Earth. As such, E-Borneo.Com was a platform for the world to “bring” and “share” their presence in the web to Borneons.
The Shift – Travel Vortal
Since 2002 however, due to popular requests, E-Borneo.Com evolved from a Borneo portal into the first comprehensive Borneo Travel Vortal. E-Borneo.Com became more of an InfoTravel gateway and Trip Advisor besides offering travel planning resources. In view of this, we were able to build a network of travel operators in the region (Sabah, Sarawak and Brunei). Furthermore, given our website popularity, years of travel experience, and established travel network, we slowly became a well-trusted independent travel specialist and tour intermediary between local tour operators within our travel network here and the international Internet audience.
The Progression – Licensed Travel Operator
From 2004 to 2009, E-Borneo.Com’s travel services were operated through a licensed local travel operator. This is in order for us to be more equipped to serve our clients better and more comprehensively. As we strive to expand the E-Borneo.Com brand name further, this partnership was discontinued. This can only be possible by operating through a company with the E-Borneo.Com trade name. As a result, we registered a private limited company (reg. no. 862652-M) under the Malaysian Registrar of Company.
The Present – Branded Licensed Travel Operator
From 2009 to present, our travel services is operated through E-Borneo.Com Tours & Travel Sdn Bhd. The company is a Malaysian Ministry of Tourism certified tour operator (TOB) and travel agency (TAB) (license no. KPL/LN 6169) and also a member of MATTA (Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents), the national umbrella representative body for the entire travel industry in the country – equivalent to the NTA or TIA in the US, AFTA in Australia, and ABTA in the UK.
For credibility or legality, the company is listed in the MATTA web site (member no. MA3548). Additonally, we can also be found at Sabah Tourism, the official web site of Sabah Tourism Board.
The company’s contact information are as follows:
E-BORNEO.COM TOURS & TRAVEL SDN BHD
(Reg No. 862652-M; Travel License No. KPL/LN 6169)
Lot No. 7, 2nd Floor, Block C
Lintas Jaya Uptownship
88200 Penampang
Kota Kinabalu, Sabah
Malaysia
Tel: +6-088-722606
Fax: +6-088-727606
The Adventure Continues…, Explore Borneo with us at your service
From providing an avenue for netizens from around the world to Experience Borneo Electronically, we are now bringing netizens worldwide to Explore Borneo Physically – that is what the ‘E’ basically stands for in E-Borneo.Com today – Experience & Explore! The best way to discover Borneo is simply to be here. We sincerely hope that you will give us the opportunity to be of service to you.
Let us Help you Experience & Explore Borneo on your next vacation!