Sim Leisure in talks to bring two more theme park concepts to Singapore

SINGAPORE – Singapore-listed theme park developer and operator Sim Leisure Group (SLG), which will

relaunch the KidZania Singapore attraction on Sentosa in 2024,

is also planning to introduce two new theme park concepts to the local market.

These are SLG’s proprietary brand called Escape theme parks and a high-tech, cinematic storytelling experience known as Haven XR that uses virtual reality (VR) goggles to fully immerse visitors as they choose their own path in a 30-minute adventure movie.

In an exclusive interview with The Straits Times, SLG executive chairman Sim Choo Kheng said the company is in talks with interested parties for both.

Datuk Sim, who was speaking after a handing-over ceremony of the KidZania Singapore site at Sentosa’s Palawan Beach at the end of July, said that the renovation of the site will create a refreshed KidZania 5.0 version, among the first few in the world to incorporate novel occupations.

Children visiting the indoor theme park will be able to play the parts of technopreneurs and Internet influencers, as well as eco-literacy specialists and environmentalists, for example.

“We want to stay relevant to inspire children as they role-play this new genre of occupations,” he said.

Describing KidZania as edutainment, Mr Sim quipped that it is very much an Asian brand despite being conceptualised in Mexico, as the focus is on parents’ aspirations for their offspring. He said that the top-performing parks are located in South Korea, Japan and Indonesia. Meanwhile, SLG holds the KidZania licence for Malaysia and Singapore.

“In Kuala Lumpur, often it is the parents who are queueing up for their kids to role-play as lawyers and doctors. Imagine their chagrin and dismay when their kids would rather play at the fun jobs, like being a window cleaner,” he chuckled.

Turning to the new projects, Mr Sim said there are already Escape parks in Malaysia. There is an indoor version at Paradigm Mall in Petaling Jaya known as Escape Challenge, while the outdoor version in Penang called Escape Adventure Park includes a water park. The company is evaluating several sites in Singapore and is yet to finalise the locations.

He said these upcoming theme parks are aimed at the age group of 15 to 35, and are also suitable for the corporate market, as they focus on character building and team bonding.

“At its core, it is designed for that kid in all of us. Optimised for smiles, it is low-tech, yet high-fun.”

Mr Sim added that online shopping has changed the retail experience irreversibly and this means that shopping malls have to reinvent themselves to attract shoppers back.

“Escape is becoming the new anchor tenant that large department stores used to be. It can attract footfall and the mall becomes a destination again,” he said.

SLG’s business model is for mall owners to put up 100 per cent of the $1.5 million capital expenditure to set up the theme park and then for them to take 10 per cent of the gross revenue.

“A few years ago, this wasn’t possible so we invested in the prototype in Petaling Jaya as proof of concept. Now, it is much easier to convince mall owners because the theme park actually supports the rest of the mall’s outlets,” he said.

For the latest concept of VR theatres, SLG recently tied up with Australian company Haven XR and was granted master licensing rights in both China and Asean to jointly develop the virtual experience across several rooms totalling 3,000 sq ft to 5,000 sq ft.

Similarly, the mall owners are expected to foot the investment cost of about $1 million for each theatre and in return, they get to keep 10 per cent of gross revenues.

Mr Sim said that up to four visitors can fit into each room and their virtual experience will be enhanced by temperature changes, as well as winds and smells.

He said that this concept will change the cinema-going experience because visitors will no longer just watch the movie passively, but will instead become the starring heroes.

Not only can visitors choose their artificial intelligence-generated avatars, but they can also choose different paths within the story. Each path is original so they can repeat the experience for different endings. Visitors will be able to take the movies home and share them online.

He expects to roll out the first Haven XR Cinema Centre in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur concurrently in the first quarter of 2024 as the lead time to set these up is only three months.

“While a real theme park requires the entire structure to be torn down, we can put a roller coaster inside a room at a fraction of the cost and it can be easily changed into something else with a flick of a switch,” he said.

Catalist-listed SLG closed down 2.5 cents at 41 cents on Monday.