Motivational camps are a popular way to bond with your friends, famiy or also among work colleagues and classmates. A motivational camp that’s no stranger to this concept in the Lenggong Valley is standing proud despite the effects of the pandemic.
Datuk Abd Rashid is the owner of Amazing Camp Legacy based in the cool hills of Lenggong, Perak. Born in Johor and an ex-commando of the well-known Very Able Troopers 69 (VAT 69), he carries a proud history of having served in the Royal Malaysian Police, protecting the country from internal and external threats.
So why not someone of his stature should decide to create his own motivational and experiential camp? The answer to that is simple. He is currently retired but wished to stay active and productive throughout his time in retirement! Despite not being a Lenggong local, Datuk Rashid decided to settle down there as he needed a suitable environment for the concept he had in mind, and the place he found in Lenggong fits the bill nicely.
As he recalls, the first time he was in Lenggong was due to being stationed there during the Emergency. As the valley has all that he needed, namely fresh air, hilly areas, lush rainforest, and even a river, he decided this was the perfect spot to settle down and set up his project.
Given his tough and disciplined background, he created a team-building camp to impart participants on the importance of discipline, teamwork and leadership. One of the packages he offers, Kehidupan Taktikal Komando or The Life of a Tactical Commando tackles exactly this aspect by bringing his experience back to life. This experiential team-building package is a good way for guests who are curious to get a taste of the life of a Commando.
Facilitators of these team-building experiences actually consist of ex-veterans themselves. Datuk Rashid emphasised that facilitators who are based nationwide will be called over based on their expertise where required. This is to ensure an authentic experience when living the daily life of a Tactical Commando.
The Camp offers various campsites, chalets, dormitories for corporate or student groups and even renting of camping equipment. His establishment also offers authentic catering and dining services of local kampung food, should it be requested.
A Problem All Businesses Face: Halting of Operations due to the Pandemic
The Covid-19 pandemic that ravaged Malaysia and the world since February 2020 has resulted in the majority of businesses shutting down either temporarily or completely. For Datuk Rashid’s case where his Camp was only fully operational in 2020 itself, he had to figure out how to stay active and productive while waiting for the economy to open up again.
How Will Amazing Camp Stay Productive?
As an effort to stay relevant in the public eye, Datuk Rashid took the opportunity to jump onto the social media bandwagon. His team created a Facebook Page called ‘Amazing Camp Legacy: Legends By Nature’ as an outlet to announce anything about the camp, including any promotions the Camp would hold where possible. A unique factor of all the promotional posters of lodgings available is the indicator that 4G services are available despite basically staying on a hilltop. Included in the string of Facebook posts are also day-to-day activities around the camp, and even throwback videos and photos of past visitors, which help to keep relationships alive.
Datuk Rashid is also no stranger to being invited to motivational talks hosted by various organisations. Therefore as part of staying relevant, he also accepted online opportunities that came his way. He received several talk show invitations, most notably, Let’s Talk About Lenggong (LTAL), an initiative by Tourism Productivity Nexus as an effort to keep Lenggong’s tourism active. In addition to this, another notable talk show he accepted is Bicara Bersama Atika & Nadge: Merdeka Special, where in both talk shows he had the opportunity to share about his life and his Camp.
Aside from digital solutions for promotions, Datuk Rashid also pointed out that he was able to make various improvements around the vicinity of the Camp. This includes upgrading its gallery and replacing older items with quality ones. One of the spots on the Camp, which is Pulau Lagenda for campers, he highlighted that he was able to remove rotting bamboo sticks and used them to prop up the replacement of new ones.
The pandemic ‘time off’ that he has gotten also gave him the opportunity to identify the weaknesses in his marketing of the Camp. This has given him the time to re-strategise and even try out new methods to attract quality visitors.
Improvements and Staying Productive Produce Engagement
Amazing Camp Legacy’s Facebook page, which was created this year, has now hit over 3,000 followers. This consists of not just friends, family and visitors who enjoyed their time staying at the camp but even new likers. This is seen through the amount of engagement in the comments section.
The idea of posting throwback videos and past photos has proven to be fruitful as these posts tend to have the most engagement from the public. By invoking the sense of nostalgia of the establishment, this has reignited people’s interest to plan their next trip to be at the Camp.
Datuk Rashid’s participation in the online talk shows mentioned earlier displays a healthy number of supportive comments by viewers. The combination of live views from both talk shows reached nearly 2,000 views altogether. The organisers for both talk shows included a Q&A segment, giving the opportunity for people to interact with him virtually. Not only that, the organisers would also tag the Camp’s Facebook page into the comments section as an additional effort for viewers to click the link.
As the Camp is also registered under Google Business, a quick search on the search engine shows several reviews recommending the Camp. One reviewer attached photos they took and included a short review of activities searchers can do.
“My favourite spot is the water hammocks” commented the reviewer while encouraging readers to try out the Camp. Currently his business on Google is standing at 5 stars, which indicates the full satisfaction visitors receive.
The combination of digital promotion by showcasing the attractive life at Amazing Camp and the physical improvements made to the camp has certainly shown how productive the team has been. This can only mean that the Camp is now ready to receive guests anytime once travelling is allowed.
However, it is noted that Datuk Rashid didn’t make these improvements alone, as he also made the effort to invite his friends to help him, whether ithey are retired veterans, ex-policemen or even the locals he has befriended. He mentioned that he is currently enjoying taking his time to build upon improvements without having to worry yet about receiving guests.
Interested in listening to Datuk Rashid himself talking about his Amazing Camp? You may head on over to Tourism Productivity Nexus’ Let’s Talk About Lenggong series here.