No more free rides in Brunei

22 June 2000

In the sultanate of Brunei, the word 'marketing' still generally means 'to buy groceries' as there has been little reason to sell the country to the world.

For years the gold-gilded country lived large on the oil and gas industry and places like Jerudong Park Playground, the Disney Land-style amusement park, were free admission and free rides for all.

Eighty percent of the people work for the government and are prosperous - there are no income taxes in Brunei. And paying to park your car - there are plenty of Mercedes' and gas-guzzling SUVs (Sports Utility Vehicles) - is a new phenomenon.

But times have changed.

The Asian economic crisis and the collapse of Brunei's Amedeo Corporation, the failed business conglomerate controlled by the Sultan's youngest brother Prince Jefri, have forced Brunei to re-evaluate its economy.

Politically and economically, Brunei remains stable, but insulation is no longer an option and the country is opening its doors to tourism. Suddenly world class golf courses and polo clubs, formerly the stomping ground for 'royalty only', are being packaged and sold to tourists.

Jerudong Park is negotiating a deal with Freme Travel Services to handle the marketing for the sprawling complex, which includes the Royal Brunei Golf and Country Club, Trijaya Jerudong Equestrian Park, Jerudong Park Properties, Jerudong Park Playground, and the Jerudong Park Polo Club - home of the Sultan's polo grounds.

Can one agent handle such a big job? And will Jerudong's newest attraction - the yet-to- be opened Empire Hotel - sell itself under the Jerudong umbrella or go it alone?

Chua Peng Chai is the self-described 'de facto' marketing director of Jerudong Park Marketing Services, and because many of the attractions within Jerudong Park are members clubs and unaccustomed to handling tourists, the group decided to hire an official tour operator and Chua is leading negotiations with Freme Travel Services (travelweeklyeast.com June 8).

"We are negotiating to get an official tour operator for Jerudong Park to market the area and to develop packages, because our core business is not tourism," Chua said. "Marketing is so new here. Everything is happening so fast we've just looked into seriously commercialising in the last six months."

He said Jerudong Park started in 1978 with a polo and golf club. "In 1992-93, the playground started - it used to be all free but now we are changing."

Most people involved with Jerudong think hiring Freme for marketing makes sense. "There is only one Jerudong Park, but when they did the restructuring of management, they made different companies for golf, polo and the rest," said Ardi Hamidjojo, general manager of the Trijaya equestrian park and former Indonesian show-jumping champion.

"Before they were doing their own thing and it wouldn't work, now we're really holding hands." He said tourism would not interfere with members of the riding club and that the business was more than welcome.

"We love to have tourists because this is a one-stop tourist attraction. We're trying to market Jerudong Park as a whole. We have horse riding, polo, golf, the playground and soon we'll have beach houses and water sports. We're holding hands really tightly to market as a whole."

The Empire Hotel & Country Club, formerly known as the Jerudong Park Hotel, is not convinced one-stop shop marketing is a good idea.

The luxury hotel is due to open in August or September after months of delay in the wake of the multi-billion dollar Amedeo collapse. Mark Hennebry, deputy general manager of The Empire, said he was sceptical of the Jerudong marketing plan.

"We've had preliminary discussions with the playground people, I don't know yet what we want to do there," he said. "How can one agent do all that? Does one agent have the facilities to do all that?" The Empire's director of sales and marketing, Jean Lee, said they may work more with the other Jerudong facilities but not initially.

"We want to establish our own identity first as The Empire," she said. "We want to go out there and feel. If the timing is right, we'll go out and promote it with other Jerudong facilities."

And with Freme Travel set to become the 'official agent' of Jerudong, many other agents are worried they'll be left in the cold while Freme gets preferential rates and treatment.

Freme operations director Allan Riches says the agency will act more as a marketing consultant for the park and stressed that Freme would not be partial to special rates.

"Jerudong Park Marketing Services must be a level playing field for all the travel agents," Riches said. "Other agents won't be booking through Freme, they'll book through Jerudong Park Services. It will operate as a separate entity."

So how can one agent handle the job of 'official operator'?

"The concept isn't really as official agent. What Jerudong Park Properties is looking for is someone with expertise in these areas to set up a separate entity to handle marketing," Riches said.

He said he would act as the chief Freme consultant working with Jerudong and that while they would use Freme guides initially, they would be hiring more people soon.

He said his top priority was to spread the word about Brunei and Jerudong through trade shows and brochures ahead of the APEC summit in November and the ASEAN Tourism Forum (ATF) in January.

"The World Travel Market in November will be a major focal point because that's also a focal point for Visit Brunei 2001. We should be at a climax by then."