Editor's Pick A forgotten island

23 Mar 2018 2045 | World Travel News

Sentosa Island and its neighbouring attractions are ostensibly absent from the first wave of Passion Made Possible campaign videos, leading some in the trade to wonder where they fit into the country’s new destination branding.

Sentosa’s no one-trick pony, say the island’s operators

“Many years ago, the highlight used to be the HarbourFront/Sentosa area… If you visit STB’s website (now), a majority of the content and marketing is directed at the Marina Bay or Tanjong Pagar areas,” pointed out Philip Cyril Raj, group general manager of Bay Hotels & Resorts.

Lynette Ang, chief marketing officer, Sentosa Development Corporation (SDC), observed: “We find that many have an age-old perception that Sentosa is still the same place it was 20 years ago.”

Judy Lum, general manager, Diethelm Travel (Singapore), opined that Passion Made Possible’s “abstract” message is “probably why many attractions in Singapore did not get the headline in this campaign”.

As such, operators in the Harbourfront area and Sentosa are carving out their own means to increase visitor volumes.

Yue Weng Leong, general manager, KidZania Singapore, shared that the Sentosa-based attraction is expecting more demand from families that “rely heavily on reviews and word-of-mouth”.

One Faber Group – an autonomous subsidiary of SDC that manages attractions such as Sentosa’s iconic Merlion structure, Singapore Cable Car and Faber Peak Singapore – has launched its own brand material and will promote them to target markets such as India and China.