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Mystery shopper


Children learn how to make burgers Inside the KidZania Kuala Lumpur city


ROLE MODEL


Children get to grow up quiCkly at kidzania where they assume the roles of adult professions. we visit kidzania kuala lumpur to see if the attraCtion is a worthy role model


jennifer harbottle • journalist • attractions management K 56


idZania is a miniature city where children get the chance to play at being grown ups. They are given jobs, earn money (kidZos)


and deposit savings in a bank account, which can then be used to buy goods and services. Children can choose from 90 career-based role-playing activities which are supervised by Zupervisors, such as becoming a pilot, putting out fires, washing cars, making sushi and being a dentist. The KidZania franchise is owned by


Mexican entrepreneur and KidZania CEO, Xavier Lopez Ancona. Currently, there are nine KidZania family entertainment centres worldwide, in Mexico City, Monterrey, Tokyo, Jakarta, Koshien, Lisbon, Dubai, Seoul and Kuala Lumpur. There are plans for another 11 to open worldwide over the next two years. A deal has been signed to open a site in the UK plus an imminent move into the US will see the concept open up across a number of states there too.


KidZania Kuala Lumpur is the newest KidZania franchise. Opened in February 2012, it’s the first of many new branded attractions due to be developed and operated by Malaysia-based Themed Attractions and Resorts Sdn Bhd. Themed Attractions is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Malaysian Government’s investment arm, Khazanah Nasional Berhad (Khazanah) and has been set up to develop and run leisure and tourism attractions in Asia. (See interview with CEO Steve Peet in AM Q1 1


2).


Themed Attractions has invested RM80m (£16.2m, E20.2m, US$25.4m) in KidZania Kuala Lumpur. It hopes to see a return on this investment by the end of 2012, on the back of the 500,000 visitors it expects to receive this year.


LOCATION KidZania is located in an affluent suburb of Kuala Lumpur in a high-end retail mall called The Curve. Other big anchor tenants


Read Attractions Management online attractionsmanagement.com/digital


Children earn kidZos, which they can spend in the shop


include Ikea, Tesco and a major cinema operator, so KidZania Kuala Lumpur has the benefit of a high incidental footfall. The attraction spans 80,000sq ft over


two levels, although access to the actual entrance once you’ve bought your ticket on the ground floor is reached via five separate escalators or a lift to the fifth floor.


TICKETING Crucial to the success of the KidZania model is securing sponsorship tie-ups with well-known local corporations. As a result, the establishments found in every KidZania city, such as the restaurants, the hospital, the petrol station and the bank, are branded with company logos. In


AM 2 2012 ©cybertrek 2012


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