That, in a nutshell, will be the new Sentosa as the island transforms from a cluster of individual attractions to a complete destination in its own right as part of an $8 billion redevelopment plan.
In fact, it will become the second largest destination in Singapore after Orchard Road, said Darrell Metzger, chief executive officer of Sentosa.
Metzger, who came from a theme park background (Walt Disney and Ocean Park, Hong Kong), has been overseeing Sentosa’s initial 10-year masterplan over the last four years. Impatient to get the building over with, he and his team have compressed the plan into eight years.
“The last grand opening will be the Integrated Resort,” he said. A winner for the Integrated Resort on Sentosa is expected to be announced by the end of the year.
The Integrated Resort, coupled with the development of Vivo City, will take Sentosa to a new level. Vivo City, situated on the mainland and which will look across the water into the new IR, is a new shopping/entertainment centre that is targeting 30 million visits a year.
Vivo City will be part of the new Sentosa-Harbourfront experience that will also encompass the St James Power Station, which is being redeveloped into a cluster of bars, restaurants and nightclubs, and the Cruise Centre.
“Sentosa is being integrated into the entire Singapore experience,” said Metzger.
Currently, the island receives 5.2 million visitors and by the time the IR opens, it should reach 8 million arrivals.
On the island itself, changes are already being seen with more developments along the way. And new hotels are coming on to boost the room count on the island.
Among them the Amara with 120 rooms, Siloso Beach Resort with 182 rooms, a 170-room hotel by Pontiac Land, a 300-room hotel on Sentosa Cove and a 200-room family hotel on Palawan.
“We have one more site but we are waiting for the IR to be awarded before we decide what to do with it,” said Metzger.
The island currently has 800 rooms (Shangri-La’s Rasa Sentosa Resort and the Sentosa Resort & Spa are the two main players) and by 2010, it should have about 3,500 rooms.
At Sentosa Cove, 117 hectares are being developed into an integrated oceanfront tropical lifestyle resort for the region. When fully developed by 2008, Sentosa Cove will have some 10,000 residents in 2,500 up-market homes as well as a boating marina for 204 yachts, a quayside village and some commercial units.
Events such as the Forbes Global CEO Conference, Singapore Open Golf Tournament, Sentosa Flower Show and New Year’s Eve countdown parties are also part and parcel of the island’s transformation into a happening destination.
“We are looking for two to three other mass-scale events,” said Metzger.
With all the developments, Metzger is mindful of the need to keep the island green. “We are deliberately not building more hotel rooms even though we know there will be limited rooms by the time the transformation is complete. We don’t want to over-develop the island. Seventy percent of the island will remain green and most new developments are being built around the trees.”
The other noticeable area of change is the service levels on Sentosa. All the efforts put into training and instilling a service quality culture among staff on the island are paying off.
Said Metzger, “Three years ago, we had 10 complaints to one compliment. Now we have one to one and most of the complaints are about the construction. All the compliments we get are about our people and our service.
“This is a good trend. Our goal is to have 4-5 compliments to every complaint.”
Asked to imagine Sentosa in five years time, Metzger said, “It will be an active place. It will be a hard ticket to get because of the limited hotel rooms. And it will be friendly and fun.”
