The first Universal Studios theme park in Southeast Asia opened its doors to enthusiastic visitors in Singapore on Thursday.
Hundreds of visitors, including foreigners, lined up to be among the first into the 20-hectare (50-acre) movie theme park in Singapore, which is part of the US$4.4-billion Resorts World Sentosa complex developed by Genting Group.
The RWS casino, which is Singapore’s first casino complex, started its operation in February, as part of its drive to lure more tourists into the city-state that relies mostly on man-made attractions to entice visitors.
The Universal Studio theme park has seven zones of movie-themed attractions, including a version of Hollywood’s “Walk of Fame" and an area devoted to Steven Spielberg’s "Jurassic Park".
The park also houses a total of 24 rides and attractions, with 18 of them are originally adapted or designed for Singapore.
The movie theme park is also being promoted overseas, particularly to the neighbouring countries.
Liang Wern Ling, director of Destination Sales at 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 other Universal Studios theme park is located in Japan, while two more are located in Florida and California in the US.
Under a phased launching, Resorts World Sentosa has opened four premium hotels and a dining and shopping strip in January, followed by a convention centre and the casino complex in February.
In 2005, Singapore gave a green light for casino gambling, hoping to boost the country’s tourism industry and draw more foreigners and visitors. A maritime museum, marine life park, a spa and two more hotels are set to open at RWS after 2010.
"We are equally excited, if not, more excited about our maritime museum that is going to be completed at the end of next year, along with our fifth hotel, which is going to be another fantastic international-standard hotel,” said RWS Chairman Lim Kok Thay.
"And that in turn is connected to the water park and maritime life park, where you can of course swim with the dolphins and stingrays."
Singapore’s second casino complex, Marina Bay Sands, which is being developed by US-based Las Vegas Sands, is set to open on April 27.