Staying power

Anthony Lim and his wife, Sherlyn Liu, set up Anthony Tours in Brunei in 1978 with a simple goal. “We wanted to provide Bruneians the opportunity to see the outside world. Brunei is relatively small,” he said. They were a two-man team which launched operations by sending groups to Manila. At present, they send groups all over the world and likewise receive passengers from all over. He tells Ruby Gonzalez how they have grown and continue to grow the business.



Company philosophy

We always keep an eye for business opportunities and we invest in technology and human resources. For instance, we were actually the first one in Brunei to have an in-house computerised reservation system. This was during the early ‘80s, even before airlines were having their own CRS. We provide ongoing in-house training for our staff, which is not an industry norm in Brunei.

Making it

It should be in the early 1990s. There were a lot of projects and opportunities in Brunei. There were also a lot of foreigners working in the country. There were new kinds of businesses coming in, like the multi-levels and companies that give incentive travels to their staff. From there, we expanded into incentives and other forms like inbound tours. When the Brunei Tourism Board (BTB) was formed, we started to push more for inbound.

Success factors

We have to give something different compared to the competitors. First of all, you have to understand client’s needs. And you have to offer something which is different in the market in terms of quality food – we upgrade the menu – and also better hotel accommodations, and good coaches. And of course, good guides are quite important also.

It is not necessary to charge more for all these because of our years of business relationship with the suppliers.

Most challenging period

We faced the same challenges experienced by our counterparts overseas. We encountered the same problems during 911 and SARS, business going down and a lot of passengers refused to travel overseas.

Overcoming challenges

All people had stopped travelling during the time of SARS. But there was one segment which had to travel no matter what. These were the students. Business for Brunei STA Travel, which is a sister company of Antony Tours,still continued. A lot of Bruneian students are on government scholarships and they opt for overseas education.

Ultimate goal

We will just have to keep on going. We are looking for new kinds of business tools, different marketing strategies. We are looking at new markets.