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With full support from the Ministry of Tourism (Malaysia) and Tourism Malaysia the highly acclaimed Italian travel reality TV series “DONNAVVENTURA” included The Reef Dive Resort in their itinerary from 6 – 9 October 2007.

Donnavventura, means “woman in adventure”, in its 19th year of production, features 6 young and charismatic Italian ladies who were chosen from some 40,000 applicants, to act as aspiring journalist and share their travel experiences with viewers. We had an opportunity to welcome 5 of them - Chiara Babilani, Michela Guizzon, Chiara Baselice, Stefania Donati and Elisa Grazzini. They were on a 3 months expedition to 8 South-East Asia countries shooting 12 episodes of exciting and exhilarating adventures. The ground handler Mr. Luca Viola of Insight Borneo Incentives & Tours Sdn Bhd had the chance to escort the group with their adventures around Sabah and Sarawak.

The staff at Mataking excelled even more in their usual warm hospitality. On arrival 6th October 2007 the team was welcomed at the jetty by staff in traditional costumes. Fortunately the weather was perfect for the film shoot. Activities featured were stroll across to Mataking Kecil and some of the neighboring islands, a visit to the Kalapuan fishing village just to show how the other side of the world lives. The resort Spa was of course one of the high lights as well as the Jungle Trek at night. The staff of Mataking held a stunning traditional performance where the ladies were invited to participate in the Mangunatip Bamboo dance.

Comments from the producer of the television series, Mr. Maurizio Rossi included that their visit to Mataking was one of the highlights of their trip to Sabah. He said that our resort island is truly “El Paradiso”. Mataking Island will be aired in Italy towards the end of this year or early next year.