Operator News
Singapore – Genting Singapore grows revenues by 24 per cent
By Phil - 12 August 2021
For the first half of 2021, Genting Singapore, operator of Resorts World Sentosa in Singapore, grew its revenue by 24 per cent to $554.8m for he half year to June compared to the previous year, with the net loss reversing to a net profit of $88.2m. This is an improvement compared to the corresponding period last year where most operations at Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) ceased for almost three months from 6 April 2020 to 30 June 2020.
The company said: “This arose from the Circuit Breaker period, a directive in 2020 from the Singapore Government to contain the spread of the COVID-19 virus. With cross-border travel being severely curtailed in our traditional markets, most of our key offerings at RWS continued to operate at considerably lower levels compared to pre-COVID-19 pandemic. While Singapore has progressively been reopening the economy at the start of the year, the emergence of a new virus variant and the detection of several clusters of infections, resulted in the Multi-Ministry Taskforce reintroducing stricter measures and tighter restrictions.
“The current situation only caters to a limited market of the smaller local population. In the short term, we do not anticipate any measurable increase in business sentiment until we have greater visibility of the border openings. We are grateful to the Singapore Tourism Board and the Singapore Government’s support measures including the $100 SingapoRediscovers Vouchers scheme made available to Singaporeans aged 18 and above for boosting the local tourism industry. This support helped mitigate the challenging environment that our Group is facing,” it added.
Ongoing international travel restrictions between Singapore and the group’s traditional Asian markets continue to significantly impact itsperformance. Singapore is pursuing an aggressive inoculation programme and hopes to achieve a vaccination rate of above 70 per cent by August 2021.
Genting said: “This will hopefully trigger a synchronised border reopening with a more relaxed quarantine regime. With the COVID-19 pandemic still raging in our regional markets, we believe a sustained and broad-based recovery in travel and tourism will be protracted and subject to a high degree of uncertainty.
“Meanwhile, our Singapore IR, RWS, remains focused on creating fun and innovative experiences to attract local visitorship. For example, continuing on the well-received Tropical Thrills at Universal Studios Singapore, the summer edition of the campaign featured new tropical selfie zones themed by Minions and the velociraptor from Jurassic World. Guests were also invited to explore King Kahula and catch Sesame Street characters in the Bollywood musical – Sesame Street Goes Bollywood,” it added.
With environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) being a strong core focus area, the Group’s journey towards building a sustainable destination has been successful. RWS has received three internationally and nationally recognised green certifications – the Global Sustainable Tourism Council’s (GSTC) Destination Criteria and Industry Criteria for Hotels certificates, as well as the Singapore Association of Convention and Exhibition Organisers and Suppliers’ (SACEOS) Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions’ (MICE) Sustainability Certificate, Intermediate Tier for Venue.
It added: “In addition, our sustainability and community efforts have won us inaugural special awards at the Singapore Tourism Award 2021. Specifically, RWS’ continuous and collective efforts in environmental conservation, decarbonisation, energy savings, water conservation, waste and pollution reduction, biodiversity and educational outreach were recognised with the Special Award for Sustainability. At the same time, we won the Special Award for Community Care (Business) for the exceptional care we displayed towards the community as the Managing Agent of Singapore’s two largest Community Care Facilities for COVID-19 patients with the combined capacity of 11,000 beds.
“With our strategic and measured approach, the Group remains resilient to weather through the ongoing adverse effects impacting the tourism industry in Singapore. We continue to invest in new and attractive guest experiences to position RWS as Asia’s premier business and leisure destination. In relation to the Group’s geographical diversification plans, the Group has teamed up with reputable Japanese corporates including Sega Sammy Holdings Inc., Sohgo Security Services Co., Ltd. (ALSOK), Kajima Corporation, Takenaka Corporation and Obayashi Corporation and submitted a bid in response to the Yokohama City’s Request for Proposal. We are currently awaiting the outcome of the bid. With our over 30 years of successful track record in developing tourism-focused IRs, we are confident of delivering a world-class IR destination that will be economically successful for the city of Yokohama, if chosen.”
