Lim Goh Tong - Genting Essay Example for Free

Lim Goh Tong Genting EssayThe best way to distri scarcee the topic of winning touristry entrepreneur is the story of tan Sri Lim Goh Tong which is the fo under(a) of Genting Highlands and how he as a local tourism entrepreneur has succeeded glob eachy. bronze Sri Lim Goh Tong (February 28, 1918 October 23, 2007) was a prominent wealthy Malaysian Chinese businessman. He was once the 3rd richest man in Malaysia with a loot worth estimated to be 4. 2 jillion USD, making him the 204th richest person in the billionaire list compiled by Forbes. The Japanese invaded Malaya in 1942 and caused suntan Sri Lim Goh Tong to have a few near-death occasions. During the proto(prenominal) Japanese Occupation, he earned a biography as a veg farmer, moreover decided to switch to petty trading for a better living. Later on false topaz Sri Lim Goh Tong ventured into scrap-metal and hardware trading. When the Japanese Occupation ended, there was an urgent demand for heavy machinery for resumed operations in mines and natural rubber plantations, he seized the opportunity and engaged in siemens-hand machinery trading, making his inaugural fortune.From used machinery trading, burn Sri Lim Goh Tong strayed into iron tap fortuitously. Tan Sri joined as a partner in an iron mining companionship which couldnt pass the outstanding payment of two bulldozers with him, and this proved to be a successful venture as he earned a substantial amount of profit from the mining sedulousness, including forming a joint-venture tin mining company which was genius of the initiative Chinese tin companies to utilize dredges in mining tin.While dealing in heavy machinery, Tan Sri accumulated a wide range of reconditioned machines as well as a substantial amount of cash to move into the face and related industries. In the name of his family construction company, Kien Huat close Limited, he began taking on several contracting jobs with help and guidance from his uncles. Kien Huat won accolades and became recognized as one of the leading construction companies after successfully completing many major computes.Among the biggest projects completed was the Ayer Itam Dam, the firstly time a local contractor had been given the construction job of such magnitude. He went on the brink of bankruptcy when construction work was facing problems in the Kemubu Irrigation Scheme, but managed to overcome the obstacles and completed the project. In 1964, when Tan Sri Lim Goh Tong was working on a hydroelectric power project in Cameron Highlands, amidst the cool pickle air, he had a mess. The idea of skeletoning a cumulationtop utilise was first conceived when Tan Sri Lim Goh Tong was in Cameron Highlands.As he was enjoying the soothing cool breeze of Cameron Highlands, an idea struck him that as the standard of living rose steadily in Malaysia, more and more peck would visit chaw revives for relaxation and recreation, but Cameron Highlands was too far away from t he capital city Kuala Lumpur, therefore building a mountain resort nearer to Kuala Lumpur would have great business potential. He envisaged Malaysia would beget and prosper in the near early and why not develop a cool mountain resort at the doorstep of KL, at heart the reach of all Malaysians.What is now one of the most popular tourist destinations in Asia and Malaysia is the realization of one mans dream. He is a man of vision who had seen further and beyond about the domain. Without cachexy any time he started working on transforming his vision into reality. Upon conceiving this idea, many naysayers were skeptical of Tan Sri tour a wilderness into a tourist resort. Most thought it was really risky and reckoned Tan Sri who was financially comfortable to be foolish to invest heavily in money and time to develop Genting, but he brushed off all these negativities and went beforehand firmly with his plan.Then he indulgent to get a line a further step in studying the maps of the vicinity of Kuala Lumpur, he located the ideal site, which was the Ulu saltwort hand, just 58 Kilometers from KL. In order to have first hand experience of the terrain and adjoins, Tan Sri Lim spearheaded an allege party guided by some aborigines he set off on the arduous excursion. They struggled by means of dense jungles, climbed over many mountains and crossed numerous rivers before successfully reaching the Ulu Kali mussiness top.During the expedition that lasted nine days, he explored the placed, gathered a wealth of data on the topography, give outage, soil conditions and former(a) relevant aspects of the region about the site which proved to be very useful in gulp up the plan for developing the resort. Setting up a private company called Genting Highlands Berhad in 1965, Tan Sri Lim successfully obtained approval for the alienation of almost 5,000 hectares of land from the Pahang and Selangor state governments respectively.In August 1965, he and his aggroup began t he project in the face of mammoth and colossal task. Among the problems were building the access road towards the hilltop, water and electrical energy supplies, sewerage system and fire safety. He managed to build the access road from Genting Sempah to the Peak of Ulu Kali Mountain towards the summit in three years when it was estimated to take fifteen years. Several sources of water in the mountain were identified, water supply was secured by building water-collection stations and water filtration plants with treated water stored in reservoirs. electricity is supplied through a central electricity generation system with 12 big generators. He and his construction team worked in two shifts round the clock, 7 days a week because during the construction, he survived cardinal close brushes with death. Meanwhile, Tan Sri Lim had to administer another major project in Kelantan, the Kemubu Irrigation Scheme at the alike(p) time. This stretched his physical endurance to the limits as he h ad to shuttle between Kuala Lumpur and Kelantan.While the first team range out the survey in front, the other do the tree-felling, bulldozing and building the road behind. In order to unbosom time and money, they built make-shift 1 quarters in the jungle, camped along the way and nevertheless stayed in caves. They even have tales to tell about their encounters with tigers in the jungle. He devoted all his time, capital and resources including the reserves of his family company, to get wind smooth and prompt construction of his dream resort. After working day and night for 3 years, the first access road was completed in 1969.Tan Sri was so relieved, because his whole vision for Genting Highlands depended on the successful completion of the access road. The whole Genting project was completed in January 1971, but prior to officially commencing business, Kuala Lumpur and its surrounding areas were hit by the worst rainstorms in a century, the road to Genting was closed by landsli des at clxxx locations, and the damaged sections took four months to repair. Genting opened its door for business on May 8, 1971. During the Genting project, Tan Sri spent all he had without earning any income.He sold an 810-hectare rubber estate to raise RM2. 5 million. In addition, he invested all the money he had made from iron mining, sub-contracting and hardware business. The project was a heavy drain on Tan Sri Lims finances. When asked to invest in this project, his friends turned him down and counseled him to drop the entire scheme instead. The project received well-deserved boost on 31stMarch 1969, on the occasion of the laying of foundation stone for the companys pioneer hotel, by the late Tunku Abdul Rahman.Impressed that a private company, without the assistance of the Government could develop a mountain resort for the enjoyment of all Malaysians, a gaming licence was suggested to help accelerate the culture of this remote area, transforming the initial idea of a 38-r oom hotel to a 200 room hotel. In 1971, the Highlands Hotel, now renamed as Theme Park Hotel was successfully completed. To cope with the rapidly growing tourists, more hotels were built which included the 700 room Genting Hotel, a landmark structure recognized by all Malaysians.Following a corporate structure exercise, the resort and unemployed related activities were transferred to drop offs World Bhd. This was the beginning of the next using phase to transform the hill resort into a City of Entertainment. A meticulously planned development programme was implemented to erect and expand the resort facilities, which included the development of Awana Chain of Hotels that is to say Awana Genting, Awana Kijal, Terengganu and Awana Porto Malai, Langkawi.In 1993, at the suggestion of Tun Mahathir, the premier(a) minister of Malaysia then, a township was developed on an 81-hectare piece of land around the site of the Genting airway cable car station. It was named Gohtong Jaya af ter Tan Sri as a token of remembrance for his efforts in the development of Genting Highlands. In 1997, Genting Highlands Resort further boosted its facility attraction with Genting Skyway cable car system that provides a 3. 38 km transport to the hilltop.Genting Skyway is also recognized as the Worlds Fastest Mono channel Car System with a maximum speed of 21. 6 km per hour and the Longest transmission line Car in Malaysia and Southeast Asia. Despite the recession in 1997, Resorts World decided to forge ahead with the ambitious billion-ringgit mega project, the First World Hotel and Plaza. Of course many skeptics questioned why need to expand development during an economical downturn. And the answer was simple during such times, labor costs and skilled resources were relatively cheaper and easier to get.And by embarking on advanced construction and development activities, also crapper provide job opportunities and stimulating the construction industry during life-or-death ec onomic times. The First World Hotel now is the largest hotel in the world with 6,200 rooms. First World Plaza label a new era for the Genting Theme Park as it features newer and more exciting attractions for families to have athletics at the peak. Just in the last 10 years, Genting Berhad has spent over 4 billion ringgit to develop Genting into Asias leading integrated leisure and entertainment resort.Throughout the years, Genting have kept firm with their vision to be the leading leisure, hospitality and entertainment corporation in the world. After 42 years, crown ornament Genting Highlands Resort has since grown from a single hill top hotel with 200 rooms to a maiden integrated leisure and entertainment resort offering more than 10,000 rooms ranging from 3, 4, 5 star and A-one luxurious 6 star accommodation, over 90 dining outlets, 80 retail outlets, convention and external standard show facilities and many fun rides at the indoor and outdoor theme parks.We catered to over 1 8 million visitors in 2006 alone. They take pride in being one of the major contributors of tourism area in the country and that are playing a significant role as a net earner of revenue and foreign exchange for the Malaysian economy. Genting Group is by no means trammel to the leisure and tourism business. The company, infact began to diversify as early as the late 70s. With leisure and tourism as its core business, the company also ventured into the plantation, property development, paper manufacturing, power generation, oil and gas exploration.Being a determined entrepreneur and a man of vision, Tan Sri Lim aspired to explore further. He knew, with the strong foundation and wealth of experience accumulated over the years, Genting was well equipped to venture abroad. He encouraged and supported his second son Tan Sri Lim Kok Thay, who is our current Chairman to expand the business overseas. With the strong support and backing from his father, Tan Sri Lim Kok Thay (fondly known a s Tan Sri KT Lim) swiftly spread his wings.Since then, he has been instrumental in globalizing Genting Group and has been the name driver behind the development of the Groups resort and gaming-related projects worldwide, such as the Burswood International Resort gambling casino, the Adelaide Casino 3 in Australia, Lucayan border Resort Casino in the Bahamas and the Subic Bay Resort Casino in the Philippines. In Australia, he had set up the Adelaide Casino and the Burswood Island Resort in Perth. In their first year of operations, these projects chalked up some RM100 million in profits.However, his intuitive decision to dispose of the hotel and casinos in Australia to a Japanese company after only 18 months in operation proved to be the chasten decision. The money was reinvested in other overseas ventures, including the Foxwoods Casino Venture with the homegrown American tribe, which has become the largest resort casino in the world. Due to Genting early success, ulterior extended financial assistance to another US-based Native American tribe to build their casino in the location of Niagara Falls.Genting was granted the only casino license after Tunku Abdul Rahman, the prime minister of Malaysia then, visited Genting Highlands and commended his effort to develop a resort contributing to Malaysias tourism industry without government help. Tan Sri managed to obtain a pioneer status for Genting Highlands and tax incentives despite its resort development not qualifying for it. He did so by convincing the government that tax incentives in the early stage of development of Genting Highlands were not only vital for them but also profitable to the government later on.Tan Sri KT Lim visionary foresight, commitment to excellence, entrepreneurial skills and hard work resulted in the birth of angiotensin converting enzyme Cruises. Capitalizing on its leisure-related expertise and experience, Genting Group expanded from land-based resorts to sail the high seas by providing a truly comprehensive leisure and entertainment offering. At a time when no one was bullish about the prospects of the global canvass industry, his debut as a cruise operator in Asia raised many eyebrows.However, both Tan Sri Lim Goh Tong and Tan Sri KT Lim saw that again, they would be the pioneers and there was no competition in Asia. Given the rising prosperity and spending power of the people here, Asians would take to cruising readily as a form of recreation and tourism if an operator could provide good, affordable services. Moreover, with many beautiful islands and waters comparable to those in the Caribbean and the Mediterranean, the richly modify Asia is able to offer exotic destinations with multicultural experiences. headliner Cruises Limited was corporate in September 2003. At a press briefing in December the same year, many local and foreign diary keepers questioned Tan Sri Lim Goh Tongs wisdom in bringing in mega cruise ships when there was no industry in Asia and the idea of a cruise holiday was rather alien to an average Asian. One foreign journalist went as far as prophesying the demise of our cruise venture in eight months time. His reasoning was simple How is Star Cruises going to find 1,700 passengers, the equivalent of five 747 plane-loads, each time it sets sail?Tan Sri Lim calmly said When I decided to develop Genting about 38 years ago, there were also people who said I was mad and doomed to failure. But I went on to build it up steadily into an internationally renowned holiday resort. As for the cruise industry, isnt Miami a success story? If the Westerners can do it, so can we Asians, this statement drew a huge applause from the floor. In November 2000, Star Cruises was listed on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong. At the peak, the market capitalization of Star Cruises hit US$2. 9 billion, even larger than that of Genting Berhad.As part of his elaborateness, Star Cruises acquired Norwegian Cruise Line in a takeover exer cise that was completed in 2000. Today Star Cruises has grown to become the third largest cruise line in the world and the leading cruise operator in Asia-Pacific. The various brands under Star Cruises, Norwegian Cruise Line, NCL America, Orient Lines and Cruise Ferries together operates 21 cruise ships with over 32,000 lower berths and calls at close to 200 4 destinations globally in the Asia Pacific, North and South America, Hawaii, the Caribbean, Alaska, Europe, Bermuda and Antarctica.Part of his global expansion plan was to start an coronation arm to exclusively handle all his overseas investments. Hence, Genting International was incorporated in 1984 to invest in leisure and gaming-related businesses outside of Malaysia. Genting International currently owns and operates 46 casinos in the UK under the Stanley Leisure brand names. This includes four of the most prestigious casinos in London Crockfords, The Colony Club, The Palm Beach and Maxims.Another exciting boost for inte rnational venture is the recent success in bid to build an integrated resort in Singapore. The integrated Resort, located on Sentosa is named Resorts World at Sentosa and is expected to go operation by early 2010. As of now, Genting Highlands is one of the most successful casino resorts in the world and is one of the primary tourist attractions in Malaysia. Tan Sri Lims company, Genting Group operates Genting Highlands and has diversified into many other industries.In the process new company brands were created that have become distinctive names in their respective fields, namely Asiatic, Genting Sanyen and Star Cruises. In the next 30 years, he continued to develop and expand Genting Highlands beyond its pilot program idea of a hotel with basic tourist facilities. A new road was built to shorten the journey to Genting from the northern states, and RM120 million was invested to widen a 10 km stretch of the access road to overturn congestion.Another RM128 million was spent on cons tructing a cable car system to provide visitors with an choice mode of transportation. Today Genting is far more than just one winning concept and one storeyed destination. It is one of Asias leading and best managed multinational corporations with strong management, financial prudence and sound investment discipline. Genting will continue to be a leading leisure and entertainment corporation in the world.