Genting Highlands is a hill station located on the peak of Mount Ulu Kali in the Titiwangsa Mountains, central Peninsular Malaysia, at 1800 metres elevation. Located in the state of Pahang, it was established in 1965 by the late Malaysian businessman Lim Goh Tong. The primary tourist attraction is Resorts World Genting, a hill resort where casinos and theme parks are situated and where gambling is permitted. Many of Pahang's skyscrapers can be found here.
History
Resorts World Genting, Malaysia in 2008.
The idea to build a hill resort near the capital city of Kuala Lumpur came from Malaysian businessman, Lim Goh Tong who was inspired by the fresh air in Cameron Highlands during his business trip there in 1963 for a hydroelectric power project. The rationale was that Cameron Highlands was too far away from Kuala Lumpur, and therefore building a mountain resort nearer to Kuala Lumpur would have excellent business potential. After researching Kuala Lumpur's maps and surrounding areas, Lim identified Mount Ulu Kali in Genting Sempah, 58 km from Kuala Lumpur, to be ideal for his plan. He set up a private company called Genting Highlands Berhad (now Genting Group) on 27 April 1965 with the politician Mohamad Noah Omar and successfully obtained approval for the alienation of 12,000 acres (4,900 ha) and 2,800 acres (1,100 ha) of land from the Pahang and Selangor State Government respectively between 1965 and 1970.
On 18 August 1965, a technical and construction team began to construct the access road from Genting Sempah to the peak of Mount Ulu Kali. On 31 March 1969, Tunku Abdul Rahman, Malaysia's first prime minister, laid the foundation stone for the company's pioneer hotel, marking the completion of the access road to Genting Highlands Resort. The resort was also granted the casino license the same year by the Malaysian government to develop its gambling industry. An area midway to the peak was turned into the Gohtong Jaya township. In 1971, the first hotel at Genting Highlands was completed and was named Highlands Hotel (now renamed Theme Park Hotel).
Since then, Genting Highlands Resort has expanded, with six more hotels being built within 2017. They are Genting Hotel (renamed Genting Grand, 1981), Awana (1984), Resort Hotel (1992), Highlands Hotel (1997), First World Hotel (2001), and Crockfords (2017). Two cable car systems were built to provide transport to the hilltop: Awana Skyway built in 1977 with a length of 2.8 kilometres (1.7 mi) and Genting Skyway cable car system built in 1997 with a length of 3.38 kilometres (2.10 mi). The resort ventured into the amusement park and entertainment industry by launching the Genting Grand Indoor Theme Park in 1992, Genting Outdoor Theme Park in 1994, Arena of Stars in 1998 and First World Plaza Indoor Theme Park in 2001.[1]
In 2013, Genting Group implemented a 10-year master plan named Genting Integrated Tourism Plan (GITP) to develop, expand, enhance and refurbish hotels, theme parks, and infrastructure at Genting Highlands. The project with different phases involves a new 1,300 rooms hotel expansion to the current First World Hotel, a new 10,000 seats arena, renovation of the First World Plaza Indoor Theme Park, and reconverting the Genting Outdoor Theme Park to 20th Century Fox World. A dispute with 20th Century Fox, which was purchased by The Walt Disney Company, resulted in the theme park being rebranded as Genting SkyWorlds.[2] In 2019, the refurbishment of the infrastructure at the resort was completed, with the outdoor theme park being fully renovated in 2021. As of 2024, there are no further plans to renovate both the indoor and outdoor theme parks.
Climate
Genting Highlands has a springlike subtropical highland climate (Cfb), with yearly temperatures no higher than 25 °C (77 °F) and rarely falling below 10 °C (50 °F) yearly. The lowest temperature recorded at Genting Highlands is 8.4 °C (47.1 °F). The temperature during the day typically reaches around 22 °C (72 °F) and during the night, it usually drops to 12 °C (54 °F).
Resorts World Genting (Abbreviation: RWG), originally known as Genting Highlands Resort, is an integrated hill resort owned by Genting Group through subsidiary Genting Malaysia Berhad which comprises hotels, shopping malls, theme parks and casinos. It is the main attraction of the hill station, located within the Pahang section of the area.
Resorts World Genting has seven hotels, with one of them being a leisure resort. One of the seven accommodations, First World Hotel, held the Guinness World Record as the largest hotel globally from 2006 until 2008 and regained the title in 2015 with 7,351 rooms following Tower 2A. In 2018, Forbes Travel Guide Star Ratings awarded 4-star rating and 'recommended' citation to Genting Grand and Maxims respectively.[3]
High Line Roof Top Market in Resorts World Genting Highlands, offering a wide selection of food for visitors.
Crockfords at Resorts World Genting was awarded the 5-star rating in 2019 & 2020, making it the first and only hotel in Malaysia to achieve this award.[4]
Hotel name
Launch date
Description
Star rating
No. of rooms
Ref
Genting SkyWorlds Hotel
1971 (Reopened in 2017)
Formerly known as Theme Park Hotel, it is the first hotel to open in Genting Highlands and sits opposite the outdoor theme park. The hotel's Valley Wings section is connected to the main section via a walk bridge.
It was known as Genting Hotel, and then later, Maxims before Highlands Hotel took the name. The building is known for the huge "Genting" logo on its rooftop, which can be seen from as far as Petaling Jaya and Subang Jaya (over 70 km away) on a clear day. It was made in a "Y" shape. It houses the Genting Casino as well as Genting Grand Complex.
Situated approximately 4 km before reaching Resorts World Genting, Awana is a resort hotel with a golf course, swimming pool, and other sports facilities.
The hotel is a long white tower that faces the Theme Park Hotel and is the main entrance to the 20th Century Fox World. One of the entry points to Genting Casino.
Initially opened as Highlands Hotel, the hotel was refurbished into Maxims in 2015 but reverted to its original name in September 2020. It houses the upper station of Genting Skyway.
First World Hotel, with its two very noticeable multi-coloured towers, was the largest hotel in the world until 2008 but regained the title in 2015 with the completion of Tower 2A.
Initially occupying Maxims' upper floors, it was relocated to Sky Avenue's upper floors next to SkyCasino and First World Hotel. Opened on 27 Nov 2017, the hotel was awarded Forbes Travel Guide 5-Star Hotel in Malaysia for 2019 & 2020, being the only hotel in Malaysia to receive the accreditation.
There are currently three theme parks at Resort World Genting, Genting SkyWorlds (formerly Genting Outdoor Theme Park), Skytropolis Funland (formerly First World Plaza Indoor Theme Park) and Genting Grand Indoor Theme Park. Genting Outdoor Theme Park was opened in 1994 with 31 rides at its peak, including a monorail service.[11][12][13] It was closed on 1 September 2013 to make way for the construction of world's first 20th Century Fox World.[14] However, due to disputes between Genting Malaysia Berhad, Fox Entertainment Group and The Walt Disney Company over the theme park after the purchase of 20th Century Fox by The Walt Disney Company,[15] Genting and Walt Disney filed civil suits over each other. On 26 July 2019, following an agreement between Disney and Fox which granted Genting Malaysia Berhad a license to utilise certain Fox intellectual properties, the theme park was eventually rebranded as Genting SkyWorlds.[16] Genting Skyworlds was planned to open in June 2021 after completion was delayed from 2016 to 2018 and then to 2020.[17] However, due to the coronavirus pandemic, construction work had to be closed down and the opening date was postponed, although works have been mostly completed. On February 8, 2022, Genting SkyWorlds began to hold soft openings.
First World Plaza Indoor Theme Park was opened in 2001 with 12 rides at its peak and was closed from June 2017 to February 2018 for refurbishment. On 8 December 2018, it was opened to the public and rebranded as Skytropolis Indoor Theme Park, with some attractions mimicking older attractions of the former indoor and outdoor theme parks. The theme park also included the first Asian branch of VOID, a US-based operator of unique fully immersive virtual reality attraction, which officially opened on 6 December 2018 on a 7,000 sq ft (650 m2) section of Skytropolis Indoor Theme Park.[18]
On 14 June 2024, a fire broke out at the Genting SkyWorlds. More than 5,000 people evacuated to safer locations and yet there were no casualties. The fire started at the second floor before spreading to the fourth floor.[19][20][21]
Genting Grand Indoor Theme Park was opened in 1992, located at the lower floor of Genting Grand Hotel and consists of two children rides and one amusement arcade – Vision City Video Games Park.[22]
Casino
Resorts World Genting is the only legal land-based casino area in the country. SkyCasino located in SkyAvenue Mall is the only casino that remains in operation in Malaysia. The much older, Genting Casino, was temporarily closed in early 2024 to facilitate renovations and upgrading works. [23][24][25]
Shopping Malls
There are currently five shopping malls at the resort, Awana Sky Central,[6]First World Plaza,[6] Genting Highlands Premium Outlets,[26] SkyAvenue,[6] and Genting Grand Complex.[27] Two shopping malls, Awana SkyCentral and Genting Highlands Premium Outlet, is near Gohtong Jaya and are connected by two link bridges. The three remaining malls are situated at the mountain top.
In 2015, Genting Hong Kong Limited, a part of the Genting Group, purchased the Singaporean nightlife brand Zouk. At this time, Zouk already had a second outlet in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. In 2019, Zouk opened its third outlet in Resorts World Genting. This Genting outlet of Zouk features the main Empire Nightclub, FUHU Dining (a Chinese-themed restaurant), and RedTail Bar (consisting of a games bar, a sports bar and a karaoke section).
Zouk continued its close collaboration with the Resorts World brand by subsequently opening another outlet inside Resorts World Las Vegas in 2022.
Amenities
The resort has two performance venues and a cineplex.
Arena of Stars is a concert hall with a capacity of 5,132 seats.
Genting International Showroom is a multimedia entertainment venue with up to 1,000 seating capacity.
Bona Cinemas at SkyAvenue is their first outlet outside China. The cinema consists of 6 cinema halls equipped with Dolby Atmos sound systems and IMAX halls.[28]
Events
Resorts World Genting has hosted several events such as awards ceremonies, concerts, and competitions over the years which are:[29]
Tan Sri (Dr) Lim Goh Tong Memorial Hall in Gohtong Jaya.
Other tourist attractions at Genting Highlands are Chin Swee Caves Temple - the sole Buddhist temple named after Ancient Chinese monk Qingshui,[30]Mohamed Noah Foundation Mosque - the sole mosque named after late politician and co-founder of Genting Group Mohamed Noah Omar, Gohtong Memorial Park - memorial and cemetery of the late founder Lim Goh Tong,[31] two agricultural centres Mini Cameron Highlands and Genting Strawberry Leisure Farms and sole apiary and insectarium - Happy Bee Farm, Insect World and Butterfly Wonderland.[32][33][34][35]
Government and politics
At the federal level, Genting Highlands is part of the Bentong parliamentary constituency in Pahang, currently represented by DAP's Young Syefura Othman, and the Hulu Selangor parliamentary constituency in Selangor, currently represented by Mohd Hasnizan Harun of PAS.
Genting Highlands falls within the municipal boundaries of the Bentong Municipal Council (Majlis Perbandaran Bentong) and the Hulu Selangor Municipal Council (Majlis Perbandaran Hulu Selangor). Since 2020, Genting Highlands has also been an autonomous sub-district (daerah kecil) within Bentong District.[36][37]
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