STB chairman Datuk Joniston Bangkuai touring the Jurassic Land Kiulu while accompanied by park’s chief executive officer Sam Chan and co-founder Ady Kim.
KOTA KINABALU: A shared passion for dinosaurs has brought three friends to rustic Kiulu, where they developed a one-of-a-kind family park called the Jurassic Land Kiulu.
Built on a three-acre land and managed by Visiont Ventura company, the Jurassic Land Kiulu is set to become a much-awaited new eco-tourism product offering visitors a dinosaur safari adventure.
Co-founder Ady Kim said the park would be opened to the public in the third phase of the National Recovery Plan (NRP), adding there are nine animatronic dinosaurs available for viewing.
“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 situation improves.
“Jurassic Land is a place that is near for everyone and you do not need to travel so far to enjoy quality time with families and loved ones,” he said.
Ady said the idea of building Sabah’s very own Jurassic Park started from a coffee session with his partners Sam Chan and Jason Poi, all of whom are fans of the Jurassic Park movies.
Being well-known as an eco-adventure destination, the three friends naturally looked at Kiulu as the location for the newly designed park.
“We choose Kiulu mainly because of the natural and lush green environment, which is a perfect setting for a Dinosaur Theme Park.
“The site has a beautiful unobstructed view of the majestic Mount Kinabalu. Besides, Kiulu is a gem that not many have explored, and it is easily accessible from around Kota Kinabalu,” noted Ady, adding visitors can also enjoy white water rafting, trekking and hiking.
Among the activities and facilities available at the Jurassic Land Kiulu are cafe, dinosaur shows, Flying Zip-line, Jumpoline and Cycle 8 Park.
Recently, Sabah Tourism Board (STB) chairman Datuk Joniston Bangkuai visited the park to have a tour of the new tourism product. He was accompanied by STB deputy general manager (finance and product division) Julinus Jimit.
Bangkuai, who is also state Tourism, Culture, and Environment Assistant Minister, said the opening of Jurassic Land Kiulu would further boost rural tourism particularly in Kiulu and provide job opportunity to the locals.
“The courage to build new tourism business in times of pandemic is still ongoing 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,” he said.
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.