Iskandar Malaysia not quite Orlando yet, say buyers

The mainstream media have repeatedly described the Iskandar Malaysia region in Johor as the Orlando of South-east Asia, but according to buyers at the recent PATA Travel Mart in Manila, this label needs to be taken with a pinch of salt.


Tushar Jain, director, BTC Tours & Travel New Delhi, said it would be difficult for Iskandar Malaysia’s theme parks to gain a following among Indian travellers, given the overwhelming popularity of Universal Studios Singapore.

“There’s hardly been any promotions in India for Legoland, Sanrio Hello Kitty Town and The Little Big Club. Indians have therefore been left in the dark about these new theme parks,” he said. “Secondly, the parks in Iskandar are aimed at young children, whereas Universal Studios Singapore caters to all ages. From a business perspective, it makes more sense for us to bring clients just to Universal Studios when they visit Singapore.”

According to Leo Chan, marketing manager, Charlotte Travel Hong Kong, visitors from Hong Kong to Singapore would see little sense in heading over the border to Johor unless “they were die-hard Hello Kitty or Lego fans”.
“When Hong Kong tourists visit Singapore, they stay for only four days. They do not want to visit more than one theme park (besides Universal Studios) during that time, especially if they have to travel out of Singapore. However, they might hop over to Johor on subsequent trips,” he said.

Dennis Law, managing director, Star Holiday Mart Singapore, was also circumspect about the prospects for the Iskandar theme parks in drawing visitors from outside Malaysia and Singapore. “Iskandar currently suffers from a lack of tourism infrastructure such as hotels and restaurants to make the region an attractive and viable destination for foreign travellers. This might change in future, but for now, this is a sizeable obstacle,” he said.

“Cost is another impeding factor. Visitors have to fork out around US$85 each to visit all three Iskandar theme parks. However, if the parks can band together to develop value-for-money packages, they might just be able to draw visitors from Singapore and other parts of Malaysia,” he added.
-TTG Asia.