“We are an increasingly affluent region, with increasing global recognition of our outstanding tourist destinations.”
Property developer confident beachfront development will attract more investments to region
MUHAMMAD ZAINAL ASHIKIN MUHAMMAD REJAB, Desaru Development Holdings One Sdn Bhd chief executive officer
DESARU Development Holdings One Sdn Bhd, the developer of Desaru Coast in Johor, is confident of attracting more investments, which will be a major catalyst to a wider development.
To date, the 1,578ha development along a 17km beachfront has already secured global brands such as The Westin Desaru Coast Resort, Anantara Desaru Coast Resort and Villas and Hard Rock Hotel Desaru Coast.
“We are an increasingly affluent region, with increasing global recognition of our outstanding tourist destinations,” executive director and chief executive officer Muhammad Zainal Ashikin Muhammad Rejab told NST Business in an interview recently.
“Desaru Coast aims to set the standard for those destinations, and in doing so, benefit from that huge surge in tourism.”.
With a gross development cost (GDC) of RM4.6 billion, Desaru Coast master development consists of three phases.
The current Phase 1 development is opening its components in stages, which started with The Els Club Desaru Coast — Ocean Course in September 2016 and followed by The Els Club Desaru Coast — Valley Course in March last year.
The other components will be opened from end-June this year.
In addition to its tourism attractions, Zainal said Desaru Coast was also an ideal location for holding corporate events.
It offers facilities such as VIP lounges as well as function areas for meetings, incentives, conference and events that are capable of hosting up to 1,000 participants.
Further, Zainal said the Desaru Coast development, apart from being a catalyst in attracting investment to the area, had also given a significant boost to the local economy.
He said the Asia-Pacific region was expected to enjoy a more than 20 per cent growth in visitor numbers by 2021, meaning an additional 128 million people travelling to the region.
“The Desaru Coast development is impressively positioned to take advantage of that growth and an estimated 4,000 job opportunities will also be generated in the coming years, creating a huge positive knock-on effect to all areas of the local economy.”
Further, Zainal said Desaru Coast aimed to provide the benchmark for aspirational travel that delivers a positive, sustainable impact to the local economy.
“We recognise the time required in building destinations, and our focus is on strengthening fundamentals to benefit economic growth such as employment generation, inflow of foreign currencies, equilibrium in the balance of payments, the creation of forwarding and backward regional links, and the multiplier effects of earnings,” he said.
Malaysia welcomed more than 25 million tourists in 2015 while Asean as a whole registered almost 109 million.
There was a regional increase of around 27 million tourists in the four years to 2015, said Zainal.