The world’s first Hasbro Water Theme Park, scheduled to open in 2022, is expected to anchor the Malaysia Tourism City (MTC) development in Melaka.
The water park will be developed over eight hectares and house licensed intellectual properties such as My Little Pony, GI Joe and Nerf and popular games linked to Hasbro such as Battleship, Play-Doh and Mr Potato Head.
It is also expected to offer a range of branded rides not available in other theme parks.
Seth Yap, executive director of developer Meridian Berhad and M101 Holdings Group owner, launched MTC earlier this week with the signing of a “symbolic licensing agreement” with Hasbro Live! regional director Natalie Chan, witnessed by tourism, arts and culture minister, Mohamaddin Ketapi.
The collaboration framework is yet to finalise between Meridian and M101, Meridian said in a press release.
Seth said in a statement: “By signing the agreement, we will be partnering with Hasbro to develop the world’s first Hasbro themed water theme park, which is to be an iconic branded attraction that will be an essential anchor at the heart of the MTC master plan.”
The MTC project will be developed in three phases, with the Hasbro Water Park, a weekend market, a thematic adventure and ecotourism park expected to be rolled out during the first phase.
Yap shared: “Our ultimate goal for MTC is to increase the arrival of tourists and lengthen overnight stays. In 2018, the average tourist arrival in Malaysia was 28 million, and 15 million for Melaka of which an average of 1.5 million stays overnight in Melaka. With MTC, we target to increase another two million tourist arrivals and an additional 1.5 million overnight stays, thereby creating a multiplier effect on tourist receipts of an additional RM5 billion (US$1.2 billion) per annum.”
This theme park is the second partnership between Yap and Hasbro as M101 will also open the world’s first Monopoly-themed hotel in Kuala Lumpur this December, known as Monopoly Mansion by Sirocco with 270 keys.
