RWS set to capture bulk of Malaysian visitors

KUCHING: Genting Bhd, one of the most successful gaming companies in Southeast Asia will continue to be a strong contender in the industry in the upcoming years given the mega-project development Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) in Singapore.

RWS Sentosa

RWS was opened on Jan 20 to the public in Singapore with much pomp and celebration on a grand scale heralding a new era in entertainment.

RWS’s Communication assistant director Robin Goh said the latest talk of the town is expecting 13 million visitors for this year of which 60 per cent will be international visitors and 40 per cent locals.

Goh told The Borneo Post that out of the 60 per cent of international visitors, Malaysians visitors will be on top of the list followed by China, India and Thailand. “Judging from the response of the first weekend it was opened to the public, the four hotels obtained over 90 per cent occupancy rate while Festive Hotel and Hard Rock Hotel Singapore were fully booked. We expect the room occupancy to be very high in the future.”

“For us, Malaysia is a very important market as Malaysians can identify with the Genting Group as it has many successful domestic businesses there. We are also aggressively looking at the East Malaysian market which is equally important to us,” Goh revealed.

Apart from the hotels, RWS’s casino will be the centre of activities for Southeast Asia’s gambling market, currently comprising 500 tables with more than 10 different types of casino games.

“We have been working very closely with Casino Regulatory Authority of Singapore to obtain the casino licence at the soonest possible. I am happy to state that we have just received the government’s approval for the casino licence a few minutes ago,” Goh revealed.

However he declined to reveal when the casino will be in operation, stating that all the formalities needed to be addressed to ensure smooth running of the casino.

“Besides that, we see junket operators as one of the important sources for us too,” Goh added.

Taking pride of place in Singapore’s resort island of Sentosa and spanning 49 hectares, this mega-resort costing an estimated RM15.98 million (S$6.59 billion) to build will be home to Southeast Asia’s first and only Universal Studios theme park and the world’s largest oceanarium, Marine Life Park.

“It is very interesting that visitors can wake up to six different experiences under six uniquely-themed five star hotels, which are Crockfords Tower, Hotel Michael, Festive Hotel and Hard Rock Hotel Singapore with another two hotels, Equarius Hotel and Spa Villas scheduled for opening at a later date,” Goh said.

The resort boasts 1,800 rooms and meeting facilities that can host up to 12,000 delegates at one time. “Currently 1,350 rooms spread across four hotels as well as ten restaurants are