Newstrack

Marina Bay Sands in talks to set up regional office in India

Andrea Lopez - Mumbai

Fully-integrated luxury resort, Marina Bay Sands, a subsidiary of Las Vegas Sands - among the big developers of premium integrated resorts in Asia with a niche in the MICE segment - is all set to throw open the doors to its waterfront property in Singapore in late 2009. Once complete, the resort sprawled over 98,000 square metres will be one of the largest MICE destinations in Southeast Asia and is expected to attract at least 6,00,000 MICE visitors in its first year of operation.

Speaking to Express TravelWorld, Paul Stocker, director (sales) of Marina Bay Sands, revealed that the company was exploring the possibility of setting up a regional office in India in conjunction with Singapore Tourism Board to create product visibility and to target India's growing MICE market. "We are still in the process of carrying out market research and analysing demographics and cannot confirm when we will set up base here, but we will definitely do so," said Stocker. On a road show with Singapore Tourism Board, the company plans to return to India on a second road show in the third quarter of 2008.

"Our USP is that once open, we will be Southeast Asia's first fully-integrated luxury resort, and will include state-of-the-art meeting and convention facilities, restaurants, a luxury hotel and Singapore's first casino, as well as retail and entertainment outlets," he added. The MICE facilities will be capable of accommodating 2,000 exhibition booths and delegates in excess of 45,000. Stocker added that the resort would also be promoted as a leisure destination, and expects 40 per cent of its visitors for MICE and the rest from the FIT segment. The resort also aims to contribute to a third of Singapore's tourism receipts by expanding the MICE travel sector.