GGRAsia – GEN Highlands eyes increase in Indian visitors after revamp

GEN Highlands eyes increase in Indian visitors after revamp

Dec 12, 2017 Newsdesk Latest News, Rest of Asia, Top of the deck

Casino operator Genting Malaysia Bhd forecasts an increase in the number of visitors from India to its Resorts World Genting casino resort – also known as Genting Highlands – once an ongoing revamp of the property is concluded. That is according to Ajay Sharma, country manager for India at Resorts World Genting, quoted by the specialist Indian travel business publication Travelbizmonitor.com.

Resorts World Genting is Malaysia’s only legal casino resort. Genting Malaysia also operates casinos in the United States, the Bahamas and the United Kingdom.

Mr Sharma told the publication that prior to the Genting Highlands renovation project – when the site’s then-complement of family-focused theme parks was all operational – Resorts World Genting welcomed from India annually around 250,000 visitors making overnight stays. He added the annual tally of such visitors should go up once all facilities at the renovated Resorts World Genting are available.

“We are expecting to push the number of overall visitors to 30 million by 2020, and [with] India being among our top four markets in terms of foreign arrivals, we are expecting around 300,000 visitors from India as staying guests,” he told Travelbizmonitor.com.

The revamp project for Resorts World Genting – dubbed the Genting Integrated Tourism Plan (GITP) – was launched in December 2013. It is a multi-phase initiative described as a 10-year, MYR10-billion (US$2.45-billion) master plan. The Malaysian property has already opened several new facilities and attractions. There will also be progressive openings for new mall and for new casino areas.

Genting Malaysia said last month it was “looking forward to the roll out” of a 20th Century Fox World Theme Park at Resorts World Genting, as well as of a new indoor theme park in 2018, as part of the GITP.

Travelbizmonitor.com reported that Genting Malaysia expected the percentage of Indian visitors in its overall clientele mix to Resorts World Genting would gradually increase after the opening of the 20th Century Fox World Theme Park.