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SINGAPORE : The opening of Resorts World Sentosa and its attractions would add to Singapore's tourism landscape, said Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry S Iswaran on Thursday.
This would result in more opportunities to attract tourists and repeat visitors to Singapore. He was commenting on the announcement of the soft launch of the casino at Resorts World this Sunday, the first day of the Lunar New Year.
Mr Iswaran said: "It is good that Resorts World has announced that they are going to start operations of the casino and other aspects of the IR (integrated resort), in particular in relation to Universal Studios.
"I think this is part of a progression of activities they have started to launch, starting with the hotels and restaurants and other attractions, and they plan to progressively open this.
"So it is a good development. It adds to our tourism landscape in terms of the kinds of attractions that we have, and that means of course more opportunities to attract visitors, tourists and repeat visitors to Singapore.
"That has always been the objective of this IR and the other in Marina Bay, and also the other tourism products in the pipeline."
He added: "The important thing is that the opening of these important additions to our tourism landscape are done in a smooth manner and in a manner that preserve the visitor experience, so that people will have memorable experiences and they will come back.
"As far as the economy is concerned, as the IRs open up, we would see a progressive impact. I think the full impact would be felt when they are fully open and in their steady state.
"But I think we can see their progressive impact, already significant hirings have taken place. And once the visitors start flowing in, in terms of visitors to the theme parks, that will have a consequential impact on the economy."
On the phased opening of the Universal Studios attractions, Mr Iswaran said: "It is not uncommon for theme parks to open in a progressive way. I believe that is the practice of Universal Studios in other locations as well.
"They want to phase-in the rides, phase in the whole operations so that it is smooth, so that by the time it opens in a complete manner to the public, it has been tested out, and they are satisfied that the total visitor experience would be a good one.
"It is in that context that they are doing this phased opening. As far as the government agencies are concerned, they have been working very closely with Resorts World to facilitate their opening as early as possible, subject to the regulatory requirements. They will continue to work closely with them." - CNA/ms
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