A GROWN-UP BUSINESS Having led the concept and design of phase one of the park, Sim’s role within the business is now part operational, part strategic. Every day Sim works a full day at the park, wearing his chief Escape offi cer badge and having fun with the guests, which he says is as much about providing fun for “senior kids” as it is for the children. Along with develop- ing the park’s next phase, it’s a role he says he’ll continue to do for the fi rst six months at least, until things are running as smoothly he’d like. If you think all this sounds like child’s
play, Sim admits there are some very grown up targets to reach before he can call his latest venture a success. The government, which has leased the land to Sim Leisure for 60 years, expects the
AM 1 2013 ©cybertrek 2013
development to be fully realised by 2017.
Having already ploughed RM18m (£3.7m, 4.5m, US$5.9m) into the business to date, if he’s to stay on track, Sim’s going
to have to fi nd another RM162m (£33m, 40, US$53) in the next fi ve years to get the next two phases off the ground. Running a world-class tourism desti-
nation in Malaysia also carries a number of issues that Sim says are a constant challenge. Finding local staff that under- stand and follow safety procedures is, he admits, a “constant headache” and although he imports managers from overseas, Sim says he fi nds the red tape involved in employing ex-pats in Malaysia incredibly frustrating. On top of this, Sim says that the
infancy of Malaysia’s theme park indus- try brings another set of concerns. “Fifty
At Escape, Children can enjoy a host of physical activity challenges, from walking on rope bridges to underground caving
years ago in Malaysia, we were trying to work out how to put food on the table. Now we have a leisure industry, but in terms of people understanding it from an operational and user point of view, you can’t fast track people’s thinking. The industry may be changing, but it’ll take time for people to catch up.” As such, ticket prices are another chal-
lenge Sim and his team are up against. At RM60 (£12, 15, $19) per person for the whole day, Sim says domestic tour- ists consider Escape expensive, despite the fact that compared with other
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