Johor in Malaysia is set to become the amusement park capital of south east Asia and could prove serious competition for Orlando, Florida with its cluster of at least 11 leisure destinations.
Observers within the leisure industry have said that with Malaysia's new attractions and Singapore's world-class tourist destinations, the southern region of Asia has the potential to be ‘the next big thing’ for the industry.
According to online reports state-owned investment company Khazanah Nasional has taken part in most of Johor's proposed attractions, with at least five projects developed by Khazanah's leisure and tourism subsidiary - Themed Attractions and Resorts Malaysia.
"Malaysia is not competing with Singapore in terms of the tourist attractions but, instead, the countries complement and supplement each other," said Tunku Ahmad Burhanuddin, CEO of TAR. "We want to make it the attraction capital and the number one family destination in the Asean region," he said.
Steve Peet, TAR's COO added: "The entire area can become a tourist destination in its own right, just like Orlando."
Ahmad explained that Malaysia has many visitors but the nation used to have insufficient attractions, therefore TAR was established in 2009 "to be a catalyst for investment in the tourism sector and to design, build and operate attractions."
Approximately RM2.3bn has been allocated to develop parks and attractions until 2015. However, Ahmad said: "It is not enough just to have Hello Kitty Town and Little Big Club to promote Malaysia. So, we decided to incorporate Lat, our famous cartoon character."
