focus
host country singapore
Sentosa dangles
a richer experience
Beach Villas
If Singapore is a city in a garden, Sentosa
is an island in a city. A nice twist that
conveys some uniqueness, and the urban
resort destination now wants more global
luxury travellers to get the picture.
A steady build-up of infrastructure
that appeals to high-end visitors, coupled
with the rise of the Asian luxury market
and strong growth from higher-spending
European markets such as the UK to
Singapore, sees the Sentosa Development
Corporation courting the well-heeled
segment for the first time.
“On their own, the luxury hotels and
other various stakeholders on the island
have been marketing themselves and
Sentosa to luxury travellers. We’re starting
to do some niche advertising. We hope
to step up with a more concerted and
concrete effort with our island partners,”
said Quek Swee Kuan, CEO of Sentosa
Development Corporation.
Sentosa has the “raw ingredients”
to cater to the luxury market, he said,
salivating at the prospects of active silvers
(“people who have the time, money and
energy”), lavish Indian weddings held
over so many days, smaller but higher-
spending meetings and incentives,
working millennials with cash and style,
34 TTG Asia luxury | May 2018
or families ready to pamper their brood.
“With our golden beaches, two award-
winning golf courses, a marina, beach
clubs, five- and six-star hotels, Michelin-
star dining options and many other
facilities and services, we can curate
unique experiences for MICE, weddings
and leisure travellers,” said Quek.
The island is home to 15 hotels, many
of them luxurious or ultra-luxurious,
including Amara Sanctuary Resort,
Capella, Le Meridien, ONE°15 Marina
Club, Shangri-La’s Rasa Sentosa, Sofitel,
W Sentosa Cove and Resorts World’s
integrated offerings that include Beach
Villas – a hotel that fields Ocean Suites
that provide underwater views of 50,000
marine animals from more than 70 species
“Sentosa has the
raw ingredients to
cater to the luxury
market.”
Quek Swee Kuan
CEO, Sentosa Development Corporation
from the S.E.A. Aquarium, and Tree Top
Lofts that deliver a five-star back-to-nature
experience.
Attractions also “refresh” themselves
constantly, said Quek. “The Surrender
Chambers, for instance, has been
revamped. Luge (a skyride), which
has been so successful on this island,
introduced two new tracks. AJ Hackett has
opened, so we have bungy jump on the
island; so has the Maritime Experiential
Museum. Madame Tussauds has a new
Marvel 4D Experience. The Merlion is
being revamped – the list goes on.”
The Merlion Gateway, a 12ha
thoroughfare from Resorts World Sentosa
past the Merlion Plaza and onto the
beaches, is being redeveloped, with
consultants hired “to make it more
seamless and attractive for guests as
they walk through the precinct, both in
terms connectivity and an immersive
experience”, said Quek.
Sentosa welcomes some 19.5 million
visitors a year. Two-thirds are tourists,
the rest locals. Of the two-thirds, more
than 50 per cent are tourists from the
region, the top five regional markets being
India, Indonesia, Malaysia, China and the
Philippines.
“We think there is scope to grow the
longhaul leisure market (in particular the
UK, Germany, France and Russia), and the
meetings and incentives market. Hotels
on the island are really keen to have their
fair share of meetings, incentives and
reasonable size conferences, especially to
fill a lower occupancy during weekdays,”
said Quek.
Most guests marvel at the greenery and
the tranquility of the island, an asset that
will shape a 2030 masterplan currently
being drawn for the island. “We want
to approach development in a more
considered manner,” said Quek.
“Sentosa is an island in a city, just like
Singapore is a city in a garden. It is very
accessible yet it still retains its island
tranquility and charm, and we want to
preserve that. We look at it as green, blue
and gold – green for the abundance of
nature, blue for the water body and gold
for the beaches,” he added. – Raini Hamdi