New ride at Legoland Malaysia
Legoland Malaysia will launch a new ride called Lego Ninjago in November 2016 and is hoping that the Diwali season will push up footfalls from India.
Legoland Malaysia Resort in Johor has announced that it will launch a new ride called Lego Ninjago in November 2016, to coincide with the holiday season in India. It is based on the popular Lego series Ninjago and will have 4D effects. Here, guests will be able to enjoy interactive elements with heat, smoke and wind incorporated throughout the ride and use teamwork to battle the Great Devourer.
Thila Munusamy, Director of Sales & Marketing, Legoland Park, says, “It’s a cutting-edge technology which has never been seen before in any other theme park in the world. Legoland Park has already launched this at its parks in Denmark and California and it has been very well-received. We are now bringing this to Malaysia. This is a unique cutting-edge technology using hand gestures sitting in a car that can fit four people with a screen in front. So it’s perfect for families but we are also promoting this to FITs and corporates.”
Opened four years ago, Legoland mainly focuses on leisure travellers. Munusamy adds, “Agents in India are keen to push this but they need a lot of incentives. Johor is a rather new place for India so it also depends on how we bundle this product into the Malaysia itinerary.” Commenting on the recent hike in visa fee for Indians, she adds, “Visa fee is an important factor for travel but it’s too early to tell whether it will affect our footfalls.”
Madhu Saliankar, Director, EntReps, that is the marketing representative in India for Legoland, says, “We continue to do product trainings in India front-liners. Bookings can be done through us and we also help agents get availability during peak periods. We have excellent schemes for India and have a discount structure for the India agents for the Legoland Resort as well as the theme park. Agents in Malaysia are not extending the discount. We offer cheaper rates provided it is available to sell. We also have group offers.”
Legoland has done a few familiarisation trips for agents along with Tourism Malaysia and the one in October will include 10 agents who will get to stay at Legoland Resort for two nights. “We also do seasonal packages and offer incentives to create some packages to promote to their clients. It would be easier and cheaper for Indians to travel to Malaysia for a theme park as against traveling to the US or UK. We always tell the agent to get a discount from us and extend their margins. Some agents have also included this in group departures,” Saliankar adds.