According to the report from ChannelNewsAsia - this project maybe a
'non-starter' but nothing is permanently decided, and negotiations
are on-going.
This present official silence is not to jeopardise the outcome of
the bidding for the Sentosa IR, as any indication of 'Mickey' at the Marina or even on
Sentosa - may deflate the interests in the Sentosa IR.
This caution taken by the Singapore Officials is not to give any
false impression to the possiblity of Singapore GLCs taking up an
interest in any proposed Disney Theme Park that will compete with
the interest of a wholly private Theme-Park-cum-Casino IR venture
in Sentosa. It has never been Disney policy to 'go it alone' in all their Theme Parks
developed overseas.
In any case, according to the report, any Disney Theme Park in
Singapore will be largely an 'In-door Concept' -
in view of the High Levels of
equatorial heat and humidity that has to be considered, in
order to attract visitors, and to compete with the largely
air-conditioned IRs.
Will the Singapore Disney be nothing more than a Super Jumbo Sized
Arcade with a Disney Theme ?
Mickey at Marina?
By Val Chua, TODAY - Posted: 08 September
2006 0849 hrs
SINGAPORE: One month before the four bidders for the Sentosa
integrated resort (IR) put their cards on the table, comes a
stunner: The winner could face a theme park rival, right here in
Singapore. Mickey Mouse - who has spurned the advances of Johor -
could come to town.
According to market talk, US-based operator Walt Disney has been in
discussions with the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) on a possible
theme park in Marina East. The site in question is an empty plot of
land beside the new 18-hole Marina Bay Golf Course at Tanjong Rhu,
operated by a unit of NTUC Club, Lianhe Zaobao reported
yesterday.
While some areas around the golf course have been marked for
development - such as for the 30 ha Marina East Garden - the use of
this plot of land "has not been decided yet", said the Urban
Redevelopment Authority. Although Disney and STB would neither
confirm nor deny the rumours, a source told Today that negotiations
have been progressing well.
"The talks went further than they have ever gone before," he
said.
In the 1990s, Singapore almost had its own Disneyland in the
Seletar area, but the deal fell through because Disney wanted a
huge 300 ha chunk of land - over four times bigger than its Tokyo
attraction - but was not prepared to fork out its own money.
Disney eventually went to Hong Kong because its Government owned 57
per cent of the whole operation. On why Disney may bite this time,
the source said: "Disney could be emboldened by the plans for the
Marina area, including the IR there, and agree to come since so
much is being done to attract tourists."
It remains to be seen whether the government offers to take a stake
in the project, how large the park will be and how the proposal
affects the Sentosa IR aspirants. Genting, for instance, is
counting on rival park operator Universal Studios as its trump card
for the Sentosa race, while Kerzner International is likely to
operate its own water-based theme park. Said Mr Sean Monaghan, an
analyst at Merrill Lynch: "The viability of the Sentosa theme park
will be dependent on the kind of competition it would face. Just
five weeks before submission, it would be difficult for the
government to announce anything major that will affect their
plans."
Still, if Disney is successfully wooed, the head-on competition
here could prove interesting, he said.
"If Singapore adopts the Hong Kong Disneyland model, then the
private investors in Sentosa IR will effectively be in competition
with the government," he added. According to reports, it's believed
that the Singapore Disneyland - if it goes through - would be of
the same scale as the 70ha Tokyo theme park.
This small scale, and
Singapore's hot weather, could lead to Disney adopting a new
generation of indoor theme parks that its CEO
Robert Iger floated last year in a Wall Street Journal
report.
He said there were "three or four entities in the world, locations
with money, that are looking for site-based entertainment" - full
rides and shows within a building.
"I'll call them theme parks but
they won't necessarily be along the same lines as parks we've built
before ... In the next year to two years ... we will commit to
creating a new concept or some entity outside the
US," he said then. Analysts pointed out he could be
hinting at Singapore.
STB declined to confirm anything yesterday but said that it was
always on the lookout for major tourism projects, beyond the two
IRs. It said it maintains a "healthy dialogue" with key players,
but did not identify anybody. A Disney spokesperson added that
Singapore continued to be a good market but it had nothing to
announce.
Whether Mickey Mouse will cause unhappiness among the Sentosa
bidders remains to be seen, as three of the quartet - Genting,
Kerzner and Harrah's Entertainment - remained tight-lipped when
asked to comment. The fourth, Eighth Wonder, hailed Disney as the
"undisputed global leader" in the theme park industry, taking a dig
at Genting's tie-up with Universal.
Mr Nicholas Mak, a director of consultancy and research at Knight
Frank, is more sanguine about the potential tussle between rival
theme park operators.
He said: "Look at Gold Coast. It has three theme parks, yet each of
them is different. Without these parks, Gold Coast is just a small
town with nice beaches. So why not two in Singapore? This will
really make the whole place more exciting." - TODAY
