Forest City, once a ghost town, has become a tourist destination

• Forest City, Malaysia’s upscale development, is relying on tourism to shed its ghost town image.
• Forest City claimed that thousands of tourists visited the development.
• But tourists and business owners alike said it was not an attractive destination to spend or earn money.

Wendy Noble lives in Singapore, 15 minutes across the border from Forest City, Malaysia. One Friday after a tough week at graduate school, All the 25-year-old wanted was to relax on the beach.

After scrolling through online photos of pristine beaches and luxurious golf resorts, she and her roommate Lee Nemis decided to head to Forest City the next day.

Country Garden, China’s largest developer, spent $100 billion to build Forest City. Developers promoted it as a “living paradise” where 700,000 people would live in luxury high-rise condos and villas.

The reality turned out to be different. Instead, he has now become one of Southeast Asia’s most famous ghost towns. Rows of skyscrapers lead down to empty beaches. There are not a single car on the road for miles. A nearby hotel looked abandoned, and dragonflies were breeding in the discolored pool.

“My first impression was that it was quiet and there weren’t many people,” Noble said.

However, Forest City has indicated it intends to shed its reputation as a ghost town, describing itself in a March 2023 press release as a place where people can experience “coastal resort life” and calling itself a “popular short-distance destination.” It is branded as a tourist destination. Forest City added in a press release that at least 15,000 people visited the local water park between August and September 2022.

“This destination attracts not only local travelers, but also many visitors from far away,” Forest City Vice President Charles Issam said in a press release.

However, this did not have enough effect to change that image.

“When we said we were going to Forest City, the locals had a certain look on their faces,” Noble told BI, referring to the people he met on his way to the development.

“At the time I couldn’t understand why no one would live there, because it looked like a nice place to live,” said Nemis, who later noticed that some of the facilities there were poorly maintained. I added that because no one seemed to be using it.

Forest City uses events to attract tourists

In recent months, the development has hosted several events to attract visitors, including a golf tournament and triathlon.

At first glance, the thousands of visitors to Forest City may seem insignificant. The Malaysian state of Johor, where the estate is located, welcomed more than 16.6 million tourists last year, according to data from the Johor Tourism Board.

Still, it shows that Forest City’s tourism sector is growing significantly, Adira Zein, a professor of tourism at Malaysia’s MARA University of Technology, told Business Insider.

“Forest City can attract weekend tourists,” Adira said, referring to tourists like Noble and Nemis.

In 2022, an expert familiar with Johor’s property market told BI that only a few thousand people live in Forest City. In August, Country Garden told Bloomberg that 9,000 residents live there. In comparison, Monaco is a city-state four times smaller than Forest City, with 36,000 inhabitants.

Country Garden, which holds a 60% stake in the property, did not respond to multiple requests for comment from BI. The remaining 40% is owned by Sultan Ibrahim, who was crowned King of Malaysia in January.

Adira said that in 2019, just before the pandemic, more than 10 buses were ferrying tourists on real estate tourism packages to Forest City every day. The development continues to struggle to house tens of thousands of vacant apartments and vacation homes, but its tourism strategy may have an opportunity.

When BI visited Forest City over a weekend in March, dozens of people flocked to the development’s public attractions, including the water park, man-made beaches, and shopping malls. Most of them seemed to be Malaysian and many spoke Malay.

That weekend, Challenge Malaysia, a local triathlon, was being held on the beach. Photos posted online by event organizers showed about 100 people taking part in the race.

It was noticeably busier than when BI first visited Forest City in May 2022.

At the time, there were only a handful of people on beaches and shopping malls, and water parks were closed. Most of the surrounding area was deserted, with dark, towering buildings and no cars on the roads. Some areas, such as the wedding hall and pool, appeared to have been left to rot. These places have now been renovated and appear to be better maintained, with pools available to hotel guests.

BI spoke to several tourists who visited Forest City for a triathlon. Sean and Gary, Malaysians believed to be in their late 20s, told BI that they traveled six hours from their home in Kuala Lumpur to Forest City to participate in the triathlon. However, the two said they were not very impressed.

“If it were me, I wouldn’t come here. There’s nothing here. It’s quietly dying,” Sean said.

“I didn’t know what to expect. I’d heard it was pretty rundown, but it turns out it wasn’t that bad, but if the event doesn’t happen, I’d rather be somewhere else.” he added.

Tourists are not spending enough outside of golf resorts.

Several business owners in the development area said the increase in tourists has not translated into significant profits.

“They come to the beach, but they don’t spend a penny,” one food entrepreneur told BI on condition of anonymity for privacy reasons. “There’s no point if it’s crowded and people aren’t spending money,” they added, noting that many visitors bring their own food rather than using the area’s eateries.

One tourist attraction that seems to attract repeat visitors and get them spending money is the Forest City golf resort. Adira noted that local golfers and tourists continue to flock to stay in one of his 298 guest rooms and purchase packages to play on the expansive golf course.

There is no official data on how many people have stayed at the hotel since it opened in September 2018, but BI observed at least 50 guests in the hotel lobby and pool, including golfers and locals on family vacations. .

The golf resort, known for its grand lobby featuring a model of Forest City, cost approximately $600 million to build.

Mr Chandran, 28, a tourist from Singapore, said he had eaten at one of the few eateries at the golf resort and thought it looked modern and luxurious.

“Next time I’d like to book a hotel suite. A friend said she booked a room after seeing an ad for it on Booking.com and it was great,” he says, adding that the nightly rate was He added that it was much cheaper than other hotels. In Singapore. Hotel room rates start at around $90.

However, regarding the remaining assets, Mr. Chandran had a different view.

“It’s a bit spooky. Most of the houses are empty,” he added.