KOTA KINABALU: A family park inspired by the Jurassic Park movie franchise has been built in Kiulu to offer a unique experience to visitors.
Sited on a three-acre (1.2 hectare) land, the park, named 'Jurassic Land Kiulu', offers visitors a dinosaur safari adventure against a natural setting with Mount Kinabalu in the background.
Managed by Visiont Ventura, the park boasts a cafe, flying zip-line, jumpoline, cycle-8 park and animatronic dinosaurs for public viewing.
Co-founder Ady Kim said the park would be open to the public in Phase 3 of the National Recovery Plan (NRP).
"In every recession and pandemic, there will always be an opportunity. We understand tourism is hit the hardest during this time, but people still need to go out sooner or later.
"Children have been stuck at home too long. We are hoping to provide a place for local families to visit when the situation improves," he said.
Ady said the idea to build the park started over a coffee session with co-partners Sam Chan and Jason Poi, who are also avid fans of the Jurassic Park movies.
Kiulu, blessed with lush greenery, was chosen as the ideal location because of its perfect setting and easy access from Kota Kinabalu, located 45km away.
Ady said Kiulu, which is a popular eco-tourism destination, is also famous for white water rafting, trekking and hiking activities.
Sabah Tourism Board (STB) chairman Datuk Joniston Bangkuai, who had sampled the latest tourism product, said it would further boost rural tourism in Kiulu and provide job opportunities to the locals.
Bangkuai, who is also state Tourism, Culture, and Environment Assistant Minister said the courage to build a new tourism product during the pandemic is commendable.
"I am sure this is a new product that everyone will be waiting to explore once tourism is safe to resume.
"Despite the challenges, STB is always encouraging tourism players and locals to come up with unique tourism products to provide new exciting experiences to visitors and tourists alike."
Bangkuai hoped that more companies would invest in the development of tourism-related attractions in Kiulu which is well-known for white water rafting, trekking and montain biking, among others.
"The availability of diverse tourist attractions would encourage visitors to stay longer in Kiulu which in turn would bring about tremendous economic spin off to the local community," said Bangkuai, who is also Kiulu assemblyman.