A comprehensive set of plans to reshape Sentosa Island is being developed, announced Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry Chee Hong Tat on Wednesday (Oct 17) at the opening of travel trade show ITB Asia 2018.
Mr Chee spoke about Sentosa Island’s status as a major tourism attraction in Singapore, and highlighted its need to remain competitive by constantly rejuvenating itself.
“We are currently developing a comprehensive set of plans to reshape the entire island and provide more scope for new attractions and investments on Sentosa,” said Mr Chee.
Sentosa Island is home to Resorts World Sentosa as well as Universal Studios Singapore, and is currently enjoyed by about 19 million locals and tourists annually. It also hosted the historic Trump-Kim summit in June.
“SOUTHERN GATEWAY OF ASIA”
As the Tanjong Pagar container ports will be moving out in the coming decade, government agencies are able to make use of a larger space, and are drawing up development plans for Pulau Brani and the Greater Southern Waterfront.
“This expanded canvas, which is as large as Sentosa Island itself, provides exciting opportunities for us to develop new tourism attractions and anchor this precinct as the Southern Gateway of Asia,” said Mr Chee.
In addition to the development of new attractions and infrastructure, a “vibrant and diverse events calendar” is also being continually developed in order to attract more visitors to Singapore throughout the year.
Plans were also announced to rejuvenate Orchard Road, Singapore’s main shopping belt. The Government, together with the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) and the Land Transport Authority (LTA), is currently formulating plans with business owners and industry players. These plans will be presented in greater detail when they are ready.
ITB Asia 2018 will be held at Marina Bay Sands from Oct 17 to Oct 19, and is expected to see more than 11,000 foreign and local visitors from the travel and tourism industry. More than 40 local exhibitors, including hotels, travel agents and travel technology providers, are taking part in the travel trade show this year.
Source: Channel NewsAsia – 17 Oct 2018