Several more leisure parks are set to come up in the Iskandar Malaysia economic zone, officials said yesterday at the announcement of another new attraction.
The projects, some of which will also be located around Kuala Lumpur, will likely include eco-themed and water-themed parks, said Tunku Ahmad Burhanuddin, chief executive officer of Themed Attractions and Resorts (TAR).
‘We will be doing six to eight more – different kinds of parks’ in the country, with about half of these in Iskandar, he told a news conference in Nusajaya yesterday.
Officials say that these projects would be complementary, and not act as competition, to Singapore’s two integrated resorts, which are expected to open next year.
‘The whole intention is not to compete, but to work together’, with tourists expected to visit attractions in both Iskandar and the Republic, Tunku Ahmad said.
TAR yesterday announced that popular characters Hello Kitty, Barney the Purple Dinosaur, Bob the Builder and their friends will be setting up home in an indoor theme park in Nusajaya, Iskandar.
This is in addition to the RM750 million (S$307 million) Legoland outdoor theme park on a 51ha land area in Nusajaya announced last year.
The indoor theme park announced yesterday will cost RM350 million and will cover an area of 5,575 sq m.
The park will also have a restaurant based on the popular comic book character Kampung Boy by famous Malaysian cartoonist Lat. It will serve Malaysian dishes.
The Nusajaya township, which is a core development in Iskandar Malaysia, is a 10-minute drive from Johor’s immigration checkpoint at the Second Link.
Both Legoland and the indoor theme park are expected to be ready around 2012. Officials expect 1.2 million visitors to Legoland and 400,000 for the indoor theme park in their first year of operation.
TAR, a wholly owned unit of state investment agency Khazanah Nasional, was set up in June to develop and operate theme parks and resorts in Malaysia.
It is also building a RM50 million Kidzania theme park just outside Kuala Lumpur.
Asked if there were too many such projects, Khazanah managing director Azman Mokhtar said strong regional economies, such as those of China and India, would ensure a growing tourism market.
Source: Sunday Times, 8 Nov 2009
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