KidZania KL and Klook join forces to reinvent edutainment with interactive experiences

Indoor edutainment centre KidZania Kuala Lumpur has tied up with Klook for an exclusive online travel agent (OTA) partnership to boost the recovery of Malaysia's tourism industry. This is also KidZania's first time appointing an exclusive OTA partner, and both parties will co-invest in initiatives to enhance and refresh visitors’ overall experience at KidZania as well as curate marketing and promotional activities.

In support of KidZania Kuala Lumpur’s mission to provide interactive and inspirational role-playing experiences for kids aged 4 to 14 years, Klook will also develop an interactive experience zone that would encourage kids to explore and be inspired by the journey of building a tech start-up. To celebrate this partnership, both parties are offering a Buy One Free One promotional offer.

In a statement to A+M, Klook Malaysia's marketing lead Emily Tan said the tech-centric interactive experience zone will be developed to give children a taste of being part of Klook while learning how to build a mobile app. Both parties will also co-invest in enhancing visitors’ overall ticket purchase and check-in experience, where visitors who purchase a ticket from Klook’s .website or mobile app will get to enjoy a dedicated lane upon arriving at the venue. Tan declined to reveal the monetary value of the partnership.

In addition to the celebratory promotion, Klook will also leverage on its content marketing capabilities by showcasing what KidZania has to offer via content on its blog and social media channels, as well as the soon-to-be-launched Klook Live!, its in-app livestream capability.

Klook will also invest in digital marketing to reach target audiences, curating festive offers to be featured on Klook’s email newsletters and campaign page. In addition, Klook will activate influencer marketing by encouraging its key content partners and opinion leaders to experience KidZania Kuala Lumpur with their families.

"With Covid-19 where customers now seek for additional safety measures such as a speedy entrance process, we saw the opportunity to digitise KidZania Kuala Lumpur’s offline ticket purchase and check-in experience through Klook’s technology-enabled merchant solutions. By enhancing the edutainment centre’s visitation experience where customers can now purchase tickets online and enjoy Klook customers only entrance lane, we are also making KidZania Kuala Lumpur’s offerings more accessible to a wider range of customers," Tan said.

According to Klook's GM of Southeast Asia, Chuan Sheng Soong, both parties will be working together to refresh and develop tech-centric experiences within the edutainment center as well as curate marketing campaigns to meet joint business objectives and market needs. Klook is also looking to work closely with government organisations such as Tourism Malaysia and open to teaming up with other industry partners to boost the recovery of the domestic tourism market.

"We are honoured to be appointed as KidZania Kuala Lumpur’s first exclusive OTA partner, which signifies the trust in Klook’s ability to help drive visitorship to the centre as well as enhance guests’ overall experience through Klook’s suite of merchant solutions," Chuan said.

Mayor of KidZania Kuala Lumpur, Shahrul Nizar Ahmad, said Malaysians’ purchase behaviour have also shifted to booking their tickets online, especially with a OTA such as Klook. "With this shift, we are confident that our partnership with Klook will result in a better customer experience overall by speeding up the entry process, especially with additional safety measures that we are taking such as temperature checking of every guest to ensure that visitors can enjoy what the centre offers with a peace of mind," Shahrul said.

Tourism Malaysia director of domestic and events division, Ammar A. Ghapar, said Tourism Malaysia encourages such strategic partnerships in the tourism industry which is in line with its post-COVID-19 domestic tourism initiative, and will further spur growth for the industry.

"This partnership with Klook allows us to tap into Klook’s current user base in Malaysia, as well as its strengths in the inbound tourism market when international borders reopen. We look forward to leveraging Klook’s digital marketing capabilities and technology-enabled solutions to provide an enhanced experience to our esteemed guests from the point they enter the centre to the moment they leave," he added.

Separately, KidZania Singapore shuttered its doors in June after four years, thanking customers in a Facebook post for "joining and helping to build a billion memories". 

Meanwhile, Klook also recently tied up with Singapore Tourism Board for a SG$2 million domestic tourism partnership to drive the rediscovery of Singapore’s tourism and lifestyle offerings, under the SingapoRediscovers campaign. The partnership has three focus areas: curated promotions for products and experiences, content development, and digital marketing to boost spend. Under the partnership, businesses – ranging from hotels and attractions to tour operators and dining establishments – will be encouraged to develop new products and experiences.

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