OPINIONS | Foreword by 
A southern star arising, another splendid decade ahead
By Karen Yue, Group Editor, TTG Asia Media / Editor, TTGmice
Come 2020, Resorts World Sentosa will celebrate its 10th anniversary.
How fast good times fly! I was a reporter covering Singapore’s tourism developments then, and I remember that the years and months leading up to Resorts World Sentosa’s opening were very exciting for Singapore. The city state was finally getting her own integrated resort and the tourism industry was going to be in for a treat!
Since its opening in 2010, Resorts World Sentosa has been the venue of choice for many regional and international gatherings. They included the Asian Attractions Expo 2011 by IAAPA, the Global Association for the Attractions Industry, for which the integrated resort provided a great case study for new-generation attractions; the World Gourmet Summit in 2012, which truly spotlighted the integrated resort’s many premium dining establishments and demonstrated its dine-around possibility for corporate groups; Microsoft’s sell-out Build Conference in 2015; and the ASEANAPOL Conference in 2017 for police and law enforcement specialists from South-east Asia and beyond.
Resorts World Sentosa continues to expand its sterling MICE track record, and 2019 is truly a year of several firsts.
In May 2019, Resorts World Sentosa’s Equarius Hotel hosted the first-ever Skift Forum Asia, an intensive, day-long conference for the world’s leaders in the travel trade. You can read more about it in our earlier issue of MICE Insider.
In June, the first Asia Pacific Autism Conference to be held outside of Australia descended on Singapore, at the Resorts World Convention Centre. Taking into consideration the unique sensory needs of autistic attendees, Resorts World Sentosa took steps to maximise attendees’ comforts – such as provision of quiet rooms, and switched off the hand dryers during the three-day event.
A month later, Asia’s business event fraternity gathered at the venue for the Singapore MICE Forum (SMF2019). The programme this year was elevated with innovative experiential features – made possible by the venue’s versatile spaces and experience in blending business and leisure (bleisure) together. Read more on “The Venue of Choice” below.
Coming up in November, Resorts World Sentosa will welcome the first Asian edition of The Special Event which will bring together over 1,500 event professionals. As the event’s strategic partner, Resorts World Sentosa will be co-branding the event venue and co-designing delegates’ experience with the event organiser – just as it did for Skift Forum Asia and SMF2019.
Numerous industry awards bagged over the years also speak for Resorts World Sentosa’s capability in the events space. TTG Travel Awards has awarded Resorts World Sentosa ‘Best Integrated Resort’ for nine years running – from 2011 to 2019, based on votes cast by travel trade buyers from both leisure and business events industry across Asia-Pacific.
This year, Resorts World Sentosa took home Best Meetings/Incentives Organiser at the Singapore Tourism Awards 2019 – its first nomination and win for this award.
That’s not all. Recently in September, it won the bronze award for the Best Venue: Conferences/Meetings/Seminars and the gold award for the Best Venue: Conventions/Exhibitions/Festivals categories at the Marketing Events Awards 2019.
These wins clearly validate Resorts World Sentosa’s branding initiatives and efforts to position itself as a leading bleisure destination regionally and internationally.
If Resorts World Sentosa’s first decade is anything to go by, the next would be a fruitful and exciting one.
Already, plans for Resorts World Sentosa 2.0 have been unveiled. Costing S$4.5 billion, the development will expand Resorts World Sentosa’s existing hotels in the Central Zone and introduce a new waterfront lifestyle complex. This will inject up to 1,100 more rooms for the integrated resort and new experiences every year between 2020 and 2025 when the expansion is expected to complete.
MICE facilities that will answer the needs of future events have also been provision for in the development plans but in the more immediate future, event planners can expect enhanced technical capabilities, such as higher Wi-Fi bandwidth, and refreshed ballrooms and function rooms.
Recognising that its people are a key asset, Resorts World Sentosa is also investing in skillset upgrades, with more of its team members getting CMP and CEM certifications.
While all these are rolling out, I’m keeping my eyes peeled for the 10th anniversary celebrations. If business event planners needed more reasons to make a beeline for this winning integrated resort, they would find plenty in the series of exciting promotions in the celebratory pipeline.
SHOWCASE | The Venue of Choice
Singapore MICE Forum – 360 immersive & experiential environment
The inaugural island edition of Singapore MICE Forum (SMF) was successfully held at the East Ballroom of Resorts World Convention Centre (RWCC) on 25 and 26 July 2019. The event transported players in the MICE sector into a future of many possibilities, where like-minded visionaries and communities congregated to be “Wired for the Future”.
AN OPENING SHOW LIKE NO OTHER
The conference kicked off with a dance act by men in business suits, inspired by Men in Black, and was accompanied by a cutting-edge laser and light show by renowned special effects artist Kiki Tay. Delegates were also blown away by the spectacular finale appearance of Transformers characters, Optimus Prime and Bumblebee for the first time in RWCC.
AMBIENT MOOD
To create an ambient environment in line with the theme, the event leveraged the resort’s in-house state-of-the-art sound and lighting system. For example, a moving galaxy was mapped onto the 180-degree projection screen at RWCC. In addition, the venue was tastefully dressed using atomic panel backdrop in partnership with special effects company, Glorious.
SILENT CONFERENCE
This inaugural island edition also immersed delegates in a future-forward 3-in-1 presentation experience. By working with audio partners to create three separate audio channels for three concurrent tracks for use in the same function space, delegates received headphones and swiftly toggled between three ongoing presentations.
MORE THAN MEETS THE EYES – AND EARS
Beyond impressive audio and visuals, guests enjoyed innovative and delectable food creations from three futuristic coffee breaks, themed - “Design”, “Digital” and “Community” - based on conference topics. Delegates were not only impressed by the intricate setup of each coffee break, but also the flavours. For instance, one of the “Design” coffee breaks was curated based on a vertical farming concept to showcase how food can be grown in small spaces for the future.
