Miri is a 'top nature destination', says this travel booking platform

The Pinnacles at Sarawak's Mulu National Park make for an exciting hiking experience. — NUR NAFIS NAIM/Wikimedia Commons

This year, the coastal city of Miri in Sarawak is included in Agoda’s “top nature destinations” list. According to the travel booking platform, Miri’s vast collection of flora and fauna and its biologically diverse ecosystem have garnered the attention of many holidaymakers from around the globe.

The Gunung Mulu National Park, for example, is home to the world’s largest cave chamber – known as the Sarawak Chamber – that spans a length of 600m. Mulu also has enormous caverns like the Deer Cave, and is surrounded by a lush tropical rainforest.

Make sure to check out the gorgeous Pinnacles, featuring unique karst formations, too.

Agoda’s list was created based on popular searches in January this year on the platform, and marks the launch of Eco Deals 2024, the company’s flagship US$1mil (RM4.68mil) partnership with World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). This year, the company is expanding its Eco Deals programme to support eight conservation projects in South-East Asia, including Laos, Cambodia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and of course, Malaysia.

Under this programme, Agoda will donate US$1 (RM4.68) for each hotel booking made on participating hotels on the platform. The funds will support a variety of conservation projects like the protection of tigers (Malaysia), whale sharks (the Philippines) and elephants (Thailand).

Other projects include the conservation of Saolas in Vietnam, ecosystem restoration in Indonesia, ranger support in Cambodia, and improvement of urban wetlands in Laos.

This programme started earlier this month, and will run until Dec 3, 2024.

In a press release, vice president South-East Asia Agoda, Enric Casals, shared: “I’m incredibly proud and excited that with this third edition of Eco Deals, Agoda pledges to donate up to US$1mil to WWF’s diverse conservation projects across South-East Asia.

“The Eco Deals programme helps travellers ‘give back’ to protect for future generations some of the wonders that the world has to offer.”

Meanwhile, other destinations on the top nature destinations list are Ooty (India), Lombok (Indonesia), Hakone (Japan), Siquijor Island (the Philippines), Jeongseon in Gangwon (South Korea), Dalat (Vietnam), Khao Yai (Thailand) and Hualien (Taiwan).