By Aida Aziz
IPOH: “Let the market to decide the ticket price for entry to the dinosaur park in Batu Gajah”, said Chairman of the State Tourism, Industry, Investment, and Corridor Development Committee, Loh Sze Yee.
Sze Yee said this in response to the issue of the entrance ticket to Dinosaur Encounter being said to be expensive and not worth visiting for the general public.
Additionally, many residents of Perak are concerned that the park might face the same fate as the Movie Animation Park Studios (MAPS).
“We’ll just let the market decide. What we see there now is not yet fully completed and is still in phases.
“The first phase is now complete, where they worked specifically for the Visit Perak Year. There are other phases to come.
“It’s not just the dinosaur park in Batu Gajah, but also includes Silverlake, Kapal Korek Tanjung Tualang No.5 (TT5), Kellie’s Castle and so on.
“We are also discussing the creation of a special package where if visitors choose that package, they will receive a specific discount at all those locations,” he said to reporters
Previously, there was a viral on social media about the public’s concerns, especially among Perak residents, regarding the dinosaur park, which was said to be another “white elephant” project like MAPS 2.0.
It is said that the entrance fee to the park is quite expensive for adults and children, besides the Batu Gajah area being considered unsuitable.
When asked why Batu Gajah was chosen as the location for Dinosaur Encounter, he explained that it was deemed suitable by the relevant parties.
Recently, the media reported the opening of the first phase of the Dinosaur Encounter Education and Entertainment Park: Area 65 at the Silverlakes Village Outlet (SVO) Commercial Center,which is expected to attract about 45,000 visitors.
Wegrow Global’s General Manager, Dr. Anir Syazwan Sharbirin, said he believes the dinosaur theme park will create a new phenomenon in attracting tourists in line with the Visit Perak Year (TMP) initiative for 2024.
Apart from SVO Batu Gajah, Dinosaur Encounter is also available at the National Science Centre, Melaka Zoo, Teruntum Pahang Zoo, Terengganu Science and Creativity Centre (PSKT), and Wetland Studios Putrajaya.
Dinosaur Encounter Area 65 operates from 11 am to 6 pm from Monday to Thursday, while on weekends (Friday to Sunday) and public holidays, it is open from 10 am to 7 pm. The ticket price for adults is RM40, and for children, it’s RM30.
For the pre-launch first phase, there are five sectors open to visitors: DNA Captures, DNA Dino Lab, Dino Clone Zone, Dino Warp and Dino Realm VR.
