Doraemon & Friends Making Their First-Ever Appearance at the Biggest Airport Shopping Mall in Sepang

Doraemon Pop-up Store in gateway@klia2 mall

March 11, 2019

Doraemon & Friends Making Their First-Ever Appearance at the Biggest Airport Shopping Mall in Sepang

Sepang, 11 March 2019 – With the success of the much-talked about Doraemon Expo and pop-up store in Paradigm Mall, Johor Bahru late last year, and the subsequent pop-up store which was held in Paradigm Mall Petaling Jaya; this time around, Animation International (M) Sdn Bhd has brought the fun to gateway@klia2 mall in Sepang. The first ever pop-up store to be located in a world-class airport, happening from 7 March to 28 April 2019, is specially curated for Doraemon fans to bond over and to create that same magical feeling of genuine happiness and togetherness amongst patrons at the event.

From left; Mr. Amerrudin Ahmad, Deputy Director General of National Arts Gallery, Mr. Steve Chow, Director of Animation International (M) Sdn Bhd, YBhg. Datuk Rashidi Hasbullah, Chairman of National Arts Gallery, Ms. Selena Chua, CEO, Retail, WCT Malls, Ms. Moon Tan, Retail Director of WCT Malls Management Sdn Bhd, and Mr. Tian Keng Swee, Assistant General Manager, WCT Malls, officiating the Doraemon Pop-up Store in gateway@klia2 mall.

Doraemon fans will be able to witness 30 life-sized Doraemon mega figurines, and will also be able to purchase different types of merchandises, including limited edition ones at the mega pop-up store. Entrance is free of charge, and open to the public. gateway@klia2 mall was chosen as the preferred mall as it’s a bustling integrated complex which welcomes more than 25 million travellers into the largest terminal for low cost carriers in the world.

Patrons to the mall will not only consist of passengers from around the world, but also Doraemon hardcore fans and shoppers from the surrounding residential districts in Putrajaya, Cyberjaya, Nilai, Bangi and Sepang, to name a few. The huge mall is 350,000 square feet of net lettable area spanning over eight levels, a 5,600-bay multi-storey car park and a fresh mall-within-airport concept, making it the perfect spot for shoppers and passengers alike. It is also accessible via various public transportations, including buses, taxis, coaches, rented vehicles as well as trains.

This mega pop-up store, a first-ever held in an airport contributes to boost the tourism sector in our country, by attracting fans worldwide who touch down at KLIA2. In hindsight, the tourism sector contributes RM84.1 billion to the national economy last year, up by 2.4 percent as compared to the previous year. According to the Tourism, Arts and Culture (MoTAC) Minister, YBhg Datuk Mohamaddin Ketapi, tourists’ spending was focused on the shopping segment, namely 33.4 percent, followed by accommodation (25.7 percent) and food and drinks (13.4 percent).

In an annual report by UK-based market research company Euromonitor International – Top 100 City Destinations 2018, the list featured ranking of the world’s most popular cities by international tourism arrivals, and Malaysia has been ranked as number nine, with 12,843,500 arrivals in 2017, and 13,434,000 arrivals last year. Global air traffic has been rising very steadily for years, and 2018 brought a steady flow of tourists into our country. Euromonitor also mentioned that global inbound arrivals are expected to grow by another 5% this year, a feat which sounds promising to our tourism industry.

Kuala Lumpur’s specific strength is its ability to combine low prices with a good range of products in a large number of stores, including three of the world’s 10 largest shopping malls. These malls are bigger in size than the top ten shopping malls in the United Kingdom. Malaysia has more than 350 shopping malls, offering over 100 million square feet of net lettable area, with a real estate value in excess of RM100 billion.

Shopping is indeed a lucrative component of Malaysia’s tourism industry. It currently holds the biggest share of tourist expenditure after the accommodation sector. Tourism Malaysia and the Government will continue to enhance Malaysia’s position as a shopping hub further, making the country one of the world’s premier and most vibrant shopping destinations.

Mr Steve Chow, Animation International (M) Sdn Bhd’s Director, was fully supportive of the Government’s efforts in promoting shopping as an important branch of Tourism in our country. He was enthusiastic about how well the event turned out, making it an important addition in uplifting Malaysia as a shopping hub, and in return, contribute to the booming Tourism industry in our country.

“I hope that patrons to the event will have a good time with friends and family and enjoy this event which was curated specially for our Doraemon fans. We hope to create that same magical feeling of genuine happiness, togetherness and bonding, thus creating strong family values through spending quality time together. We hope that the relationship with industry players built over time to promote shopping will not only to attract the locals but also foreign tourists to our country,” Mr Chow added.

Speaking at the event, Ms Selena Chua, CEO, Retail of WCT Malls said, “With the overwhelming positive responses we received from Paradigm Malls in Johor Bahru and Petaling Jaya; we are excited to spread the joy and fun by bringing Doraemon and friends to gateway@klia2 for our patrons who consist of Malaysians and travellers from around the world to experience. Each day, we welcome More than 100,000 patrons to gateway@klia2 and we strive to provide them with new and unique experiences each time they visit us. Hence, with this year’s first-ever Doraemon and friends pop-up store taking place at our biggest airport shopping mall, we hope our patrons are able to, not only experience the blue-magic of Doraemon, but also able to capture amazing pictures with 30 life- sized Doraemon figurines to fill their social feeds and bring home limited-edition merchandises with them or for their loved ones.”