SE Asia's first Universal Studios opens in
Singapore
SINGAPORE : Southeast Asia's first Universal Studios theme
park, featuring rides and attractions from box-office hits such as
"Shrek" and "Madagascar", opened to enthusiastic crowds in
Singapore on Thursday.
Hundreds of visitors including foreign tourists lined up
to be among the first into the 20-hectare (50-acre) park, part of
the US$4.4-billion Resorts World Sentosa casino complex built by
Malaysia's Genting Group.
The casino, Singapore's first, started operations last month as
part of a drive to draw more visitors to the city-state, which
relies on man-made attractions to entice tourists.
Singaporean newlyweds Raymond Ling and Liew See Eng took the day
off to try the roller-coaster rides at the seaside amusement
centre.
"The whole goal was to come here first and experience the most
terrifying rides. We'll definitely be taking it as many times as we
can," Ling told AFP after getting off a ride called "Battlestar
Galactica Human".
"It was very scary! At the first drop, I felt like my heart was
going to come out," Liew said after their front-seat
experience.
The park has seven zones of movie-themed attractions, including an
area devoted to Steven Spielberg's "Jurassic Park" and a version of
Hollywood's famous "Walk of Fame".
Nine-year-old Chai Jing Xuan, a Singaporean girl who was one of the
first to try the "Shrek 4D Adventure" ride, gave it a thumbs-up.
"The best part of the ride was seeing the donkey. He was very
funny," she said.
Chinese tourist Huang Wenhui, 26, an engineer who was in Singapore
for a one-day stopover, joined the early crowds. "I'm not a
thrill-seeker, but I'm enjoying the whole experience very much," he
said.
The park houses 24 rides and attractions in all, with 18 of them
originally designed or adapted for Singapore.
The theme park is also promoting itself overseas, especially to
neighbouring countries.
Liang Wern Ling, director, Destination Sales, Resorts World
Sentosa, said: "Asian markets are our target markets. For example,
Malaysia , Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam and China. What we have
been doing is going out to the market itself, talking to travel
agents, to our business partners, to create awareness.
"So basically travel agents are very excited to sell our products.
For the next few weeks, we expect to receive more frequent
independent travellers, because of the tour groups because this is
not actually the travel season for the region."
Asia's only other Universal Studios movie theme park is located in
Japan, while the two others are in California and Florida.
Under a phased opening, Resorts World Sentosa launched four premium
hotels and a shopping and dining strip in January, followed by the
casino and a convention centre last month.
Singapore gave the green light for casino gambling in 2005, hoping
to boost the country's tourism appeal and draw more visitors. A
marine life park, a maritime museum, a spa and two more hotels will
open at Resorts World Sentosa after 2010.
Marina Bay Sands, Singapore's second casino complex, is scheduled
to open on April 27. It is now being completed by US-based Las
Vegas Sands.
Singapore welcomed 9.7 million visitors last year, down 4.3 per
cent from 2008 as the global recession hit travel demand, but
arrivals have begun to pick up. There were 908,000 visitors in
January, up 17.6 per cent from a year ago.
- AFP/CNA/al/vm
