Contents
- Transportation
According to Pearce (1988, p. 80), theme parks are extreme examples of capital intensive, highly developed, user-oriented, man-modified, recreational environments. Theme parks attempt to create an atmosphere of another place and time, usually emphasize one dominant theme around which architecture, landscape, rides, shows, food services, costumed personnel, retailing are orchestrated. In this definition, the concept of themes is crucial to the operation of the parks, with rides, entertainment, and food all used to create several different environments. Examples of types of themes used in contemporary theme parks include history-periods, fairy tails, animals, water, marine and futurism. These themes are used to create and sustain a feeling of life involvement in a setting completely removed from daily experience.
Figure 1. The three levels of theme park product
Source: Kotler, 1994
Nature & Objectives
“ Time stands still in this Malaya civilization where ancient man hunted, gathered and built their temple. Now amidst the gigantic ruins are the five elements of fun rides and sights. Wet park, amusement park, twin waterfall sandy beach, natural hot springs and the home to a family of big cats. But one thing hasn’t changed. The 400 million year old limestone cliffs that surround the park is still as majestic as if frozen in time. The Lost World of Tambun at Sunway City Ipoh, a theme park in a land 400 million years old. Now open to Homo Sapiens.” (Lost World of Tambun, 2012)
The Lost World of Tambun was constructed by Sunway Group and the theme park is designed with a lot of unique features. It has many different “ play area” and this is certainly an added attraction to the popular Sunway Lagoon theme park in Kuala Lumpur. It comprises of five main elements which are the Water Park, Amusement Park, Lost World Hot springs & Spa and Eco-Trek, and all the above mentioned elements are set amidst 400 million year old limestone enclave. It is an immaculate experience and adventure for families and individuals who wish to have a short break away from the city and enjoy the open-air elements.
The Lost World of Tambun has elements ranging from man-made shores, hot water springs, theme park rides, and a tiger valley where the tigers wander liberally to jungle trekking, caving and tunnelling activities. Lost World of Tambun later also announced a new attraction, The Lost World Petting Zoo. Covering an area of 80, 000 sq ft, a unique petting zoo was created within the natural rainforest, with the background of limestone hills. It is a perfect getaway for recreation for visitors of all ages.
The Lost World of Tambun also ensures that unique opportunities are given to appreciate animals from a closer perspective. The Lost World Petting Zoo has been created at a cost of RM6 million in an area of jungle formerly called Monkey Valley, and houses more than 4, 000 animals and 55 species of animals. The Lost World of Tambun undoubtedly offers a distinctive experience past the thrills and spills of a theme park, with the added value of being surrounded by nature.
Land Availability and Space Requirements Themes parks are unique in require considerable space occupation, as LWOT near urban areas. In a time where most service providers and manufacturer are able to reduce their demands for space through miniaturization and more information oriented production, theme park require more space for a growing number of visitors, and increasing visitor expectations in terms of diversification, quality of supporting facilities and safety. These requirements place special demands on LWOT in terms of (i) meeting environmental standards imposed through national regulations and local communities and (ii) increasing demands in terms of landscaping and design.
Flexibility At the time of selecting a land for an amusement park, some aspects are considered very carefully. One hand, it requires huge land area, on the other hand it needs to be situated in such a place that is accessible to the visitors. In Malaysia there are so many places to establish an entertainment park. And LOWT is located at the suburb of Ipoh town which actually have advantages in term accessibility of transportation and LWOT has brought development awareness in the area which give benefit to their business as the improvement of service and accessibility of the area attracted more tourists to LWOT. Accommodations, foods and restaurants, petrol stations, public transportations, banking facilities, road infrastructure and residents area has making it more attractive and facilitate tourist group. This is considered flexibility in term of meeting the consumer and adapting the geographic advantages in LWOT.
Security Security and safety is an important factor for LWOT. In fact the company spend huge amount of capital in developing the infrastructure and structuring the layout of the theme park while trying to maintain the natural environment of the greenery hills and suburb environment breathtaking view. LWOT compliance with safety precautions regulations and safety and cleanliness as public attraction place, it requires a lot of time and money to have a good safety control. Some attractions have safety restrictions.
Children not meeting the minimum height requirement and pregnant women are not permitted to experience these attractions. Wet theme parks management ensure a lifeguard is place in every station for the games and prevent incidents in the park. Security also influence in determining the location for entrance as theme park charge their customers and some attractions may need extra charges and to avoid confusion they have to locate staff to carefully guided their customers. Entrance checking for tickets and ensuring customer do not bring prohibited item or weapon to avoid security risk.
Aesthetics The nature of beauty, art and taste comes with an appreciation of beauty. In the case of Lost World of Tambun, the Limestone hills are known to locals and foreigners for their aesthetic values. Whilst the growing eco-tourism value is hard to be missed, the fact is that these limestone hills have played substantial roles in contributing to the state economy. Also, it is known that the state in which the Lost World of Tambun is built, has intact calcite foundations with calm lakes and original forests. In actual fact, there is a number of prayer houses built inside the limestone hills.
The Community and Environment Although theme parks are main drivers of tourist visits, there could be a constructive interactive between theme park operations and their socio-cultural impact. They can bring both benefits and problems to the local society and its cultural patterns. LWOT, which located at Sunway City, Ipoh surrounded with residents from the middle and high income class. Not far from LWOT (within 5km) there are also lower income residents, as Tambun is under developing stage.
LWOT especially during peak attendance figures, and therefore the concentration of visitor in space and time is a major problem. In addition, tourism in that area have improve the living standards of people and help pay for improvement to community facilities and services, as the economic benefits of tourism are well distributed. Looking back during the early year of LWOT (2004), there are few facilities and services can be obtained in Tambun. These situations have changed, as there are more new facilities and services offered such as McDonalds, Giants, extreme park, and banks.
Accommodation, hotels and other tourist facilities, provide services so that tourist can stay overnight during their travels. Other facilities necessary for tourism development include tour and travel operations, restaurants, retail outlets, souvenir shops, financial facilities and services, tourist information offices, public safety facilities and services of police and fire protection. LWOT and its environment have planned in such a way that the entire array of physical features and services is provided for an assumed capacity of visitor. It is important in planning the services businesses to realize that they gain from clustering (Gunn, 1994). Food services, lodging and supplementary services are group together and within reasonable time and distance reach for the visitor.
Cleanliness & Safety
My experience as a customer, comes with pros and cons that adds values to Lost World of Tambun, whilst critics that can be improvised further. In terms of the rides, Lost World of Tambun had certainly created a place for everyone, adults and kids. It is no doubt one would have a joyful time as there is something for everyone. They have this dual-tube ride called the Cliff Racer whereby you slide at a maximum momentum. Although the ride in sum lasts only up to a mere few second, the thrill is astonishing. In total, there are around 4 tubes and it is a must try. If you have had enough time on the water rides, there are dry rides that take you spinning and swinging all day long with no extra charge.
The Tiger Valley will most definitely also catch your grasp as they have a few ‘ big cats’, most pleasing to photographers. In the midst of taking a stroll at rides, and the zoo, one also gets to see the beautiful park surrounding the stream. There are guards placed all around the corners, for which the rides are located, also the petting zoo, for an in case situation. The guards are attentive and seemed to be on high alert throughout the day. This created a sense of relief in the public as it means safety is on guard at all times.
As much as there are more good things to say about this theme park, one should not be biased in judgment and hence, here are some bad points in to which I have personally experienced. One of the redeeming quality of the park entails on the fact that the hot spring which may be relaxing, is really hot that it may just end up melting your synthetic swimwear. Three pools were heavily littered with dirt, leaves and floating objects – one hot spring, one tidal wave pool and one children’s pool. Perhaps cleanliness is an area that the management team should focus more on. Also, when cleanliness is not present, one may overlook the good points and also assume that everyone other feature including safety are also poorly maintained.
Food and Beverages, Rental Counter and Gift Shop Besides than the rides and slides, restaurants and gift shop are part of LWOT primary services. The restaurant inside the park is under LWOT management and the management provide stall tender/rental for others food and beverages seller, adding variety of menus for visitor to choose. There are variety of facilities can be rented in the park, such as tube, locker, bicycle and volley ball. The best part is, there is no need to pay in monetary form, as the RFID bracelet acts like a debit card in the park. Visitors may claim the balance if any. As for the gift shop, the management have design the exit route through the shop. This last pit-stop is designed similar to retail store. Visitors will have the opportunity to pick and buy some souvenirs to bring back.
Flow & Service
Management Unfortunately, the service in ticketing counter quite slow. There are only two built-in ticketing counters at LWOT and additional temporary counter will only be setup during peak seasons, which lead to the most frequent complaint of customers, the waiting lines. In addition waiting is very unrewarding. Waiting lines cannot and should not be eliminated all together. Some amount of waiting is and should remain part of the attraction, but it should be made more manageable.
Attractions in LWOT
The theme park was fine but the few rides are for the younger kids. The petting zoo was amazing with big macaws and parrots, and a jungle walk which had a feeding platform on water. Then we watched wild monkeys swing down from the mountain top to the platform and eat food! Just amazing! The hot springs at night are awesome, lit up, hot and fun! The music was a bit “ dancy” maybe for night, they could play more relaxing music. People like to relax and unwind, maybe play Adele or Sarah McLachlan instead of lady gaga and smoking policy or signage for non smoking area should be put up in the resort. Lost World also includes Tiger Valley; with Siberian tigers and we enjoyed the 2. 00pm show where tiger are given food and some adventurous scene from the tiger and the trainer.
For the spa treatment at Crystal Spa, it was quite frustrating when actually have to book a time at the spa, behind the hot springs, then exit outside the park, to the cashier to pay, then walk back. Well it makes us lose impulse purchases for massage sessions. In the wet theme park, we enjoy the tube rider where we go through the jungle as winding our way down from the top of these giant slides on a comfortable tube and Adventure River is a nice experience and actually it is the Malaysia’s first action river with a wave generator. The eco-friendly environment with greenery scenery really help us to feel more calm and this is what makes LWOT different from other theme park and it become an attraction to those who want to find relaxing vacation to avoid busy and hectic lifestyle.
The primary function of the front office is to support and help in providing and delivering service to the visitor. Another job of Front office desk is also that of a facilitator between the visitor and other departments of the theme park. The number of interactions and transactions between the guest and the theme park during a visit, determine the type and nature of front office operation. The stages of the guest visit are: 1) pre-arrival, 2) arrival, 3) occupancy and 4) departure.
Based on my experience, front office task may give significant impact on the visitor’s experiences during the arrival of the visitor, which is including the activity of issuing ticket and RFID bracelets. This activity is a must for both, a guest with online booking or a walk-in-guest. The importance of this activity can be discussed thru two of the service characteristics of theme parks. Firstly, the theme park product is inseparable: service products are consumed and produced at the same time. Therefore, the service must be right the first time. Also, as a consequence of inseparability, tourism products offer only shared use rights.
A visitor in a theme park has to share the whole park, attraction and facilities with the other visitors. If different users have conflicting expectations and attitudes, this can result in problems. For example, family with elderly and little children queue in lines may not be compatible with a group of teenagers. Secondly, theme park services are highly variable. Theme park staffs are involved in producing and delivering the service and are part of the product itself. Visitors are directly exposed to the strengths and weaknesses of the staff. Therefore, LWOT need a strong emphasis on staff recruitment, training and performance to be successful. Also, theme park visitors themselves are directly involved in the production process. In the use of the product they will reflect their own attitudes, expectation and experiences, and by doing so, will customize the product to some degree.
Safety Standards / Cleanliness
The safety standards and the cleanliness are one of the main challenges of the park. When the park was developed, it was designed with elements and landscaping that will transport guests to an ancient world. Vines, tropical plants, jungle setting makes the setting come to life but how would the park potray such spectacular view if it is not well maintained, in terms of cleanliness and safety standards? As mentioned under the section of guest experience, if what one sees with an eye view – in this case is the cleanliness is awful, how can guests feel secure that the rides are well maintained to not commit an accidental injury? Throughout the park, there are rides that sports speed of maximum momentum and it is understandable that guests question the standards to ensure safety of their children.
Meeting safety standards and cleanliness goes a long way into ensuring repeated guests for Lost World of Tambun. Also incorporated into the park is the famous Tiger Valley. With the news back in 2008 at Singapore whereby a Tiger at the zoo ends up killing a man, this creates an awareness in people to be more watchful and vigilant. In the Tiger Valley at Lost World of Tambun, one gets a chance to see the Siberian and Bengal tigers, living in the wild. Feeding time are also allocated at 3pm, 4pm and 5pm on weekends. Also the latest addition on the ever-evolving theme park, the hot springs are using thermal water. The thermal water comes from a natural source which leaves no room for unkept hygiene. Service quality and human resource practice
In services management, the linkage between employee performance and the delivery of high quality services has been well documented in the services marketing and hospitality literature (Zeithaml and Bitner, 2000; Mohr and Bitner, 1995). One of theme park characteristic is that their demand is highly seasonal. When demand for rides, activities and facilities during the day this can cause problems for the park, such as congestion and time specific peaks at rides, activities and facilities. For theme park managers, capacity planning and routing is therefore an important task to deal with these problem.
Another characteristic is the fact that theme parks face high fixed costs and low variable costs. This means that the costs per visitor in the low season, when there are only few visitors in the park, are much higher than in the high season, especially if the quality of the visitor experience has to be maintained. Furthermore, each year parks require high investments to add new exciting attractions to their product to attract the required level of visitors. Similar to other tourist attractions, theme parks first and foremost provide enjoyment to their customer. This implies that the theme park manager face especially strong demands from customers for new and exciting innovations in the services. It is not uncommon for tourist to expect one or more new rides in theme parks every year or otherwise to wait for several years before revisiting a theme park. Special strategies need to be devised to deal with tourist variety seeking.
Limited Attractions
The main attractiveness of a theme park usually the excitement and enjoyable experience that the games and facilities can give to the customer. LWOT has limited rides as compared to their competitors and this is due to high investment needed to purchase the rides and high maintenances in term servicing and operations. With the increasing number of customer especially during the public and school holiday, the long queue will bring dissatisfaction to customer as no one like to wait.
Transportation
This place is easily accessed by own transportation as there is new exit in the PLUS HIGHWAY that only 10km direct from LWOT as compared to normal Ipoh exit that is the direction is quite tedious. But local bus does not have specific bus that cater the route to LWOT and this is one of the problem that the customer and the staff is facing to reach LWOT, especially those who rely on public transportation.
