SPEECH BY MR S ISWARAN, SENIOR MINISTER OF STATE FOR TRADE & INDUSTRY AND EDUCATION, AT THE OFFICIAL LAUNCH OF THE NEW JEWEL CABLE CARS ON FRIDAY, 15 OCTOBER 2010, 1945 HRS AT THE JEWEL BOX

Your Excellencies

Dr Loo Choon Yong

Chairman of Sentosa Development Corporation

Mr Mike Barclay

CEO, Sentosa Development Corporation

Mr Olivier Lim

Chairman of Mount Faber Leisure Group

Ms Susan Teh

CEO of Mount Faber Leisure Group

Distinguished Guests

Ladies and Gentlemen

Introduction

I am pleased to join you this evening for the official launch of the Mount Faber Leisure Group’s new Jewel Cable Cars.

This event occurs at an opportune time. We are in the midst of a robust recovery in our tourism sector.To date, Singapore has registered nine consecutive months of record visitor arrivals since December 2009.The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) has recorded 7.6 million visitor arrivals till end August, and is confident that we are on track to achieve the forecast of 11.5 to 12.5 million visitor arrivals for 2010.New tourism projects and attractions, such as the Jewel Cable Cars, will help ensure that Singapore remains well positioned to participate in the growth of global and Asian tourism markets.

Sentosa Cableway – an iconic attraction

Since its introduction in 1974, the cable car has been an iconic attraction and a popular mode of transportation into Sentosa Island. Over 25 million visitors to Sentosa have taken the cable car. This strong and sustained outcome has been due to the efforts of Singapore Cable Car Pte Ltd, now known as Mount Faber Leisure Group (or MFLG), to reinvent and revitalise the cableway over time.

The launch of the Jewel Cable Car Ride this evening marks yet another milestone for MFLG. We have certainly come a long way from the days when the Sentosa cable car had only 43 cabins that had to be manually opened and closed by cable car attendants. The cableway now boasts the world’s first VIP Swarovski Jewelled Cabin and 67 new cable cars that will be a distinctive addition to Singapore’s southern night skyline.The Jewel Cable Cars will undoubtedly give visitors to Sentosa a unique and memorable experience.

Transformation of Sentosa Island

This constant effort to refresh and revitalise the cableway is reflective of the broader strategy that the island of Sentosa itself has adopted over the past decade. Today, Sentosa has transformed itself into a premier lifestyle and resort destination for both locals and tourists. As the largest mainstay tourist attraction in Singapore, Sentosa has over 200 leisure and lifestyle offerings in themed activity zones. For example, there are adventure and nature attractions at the Imbiah Lookout cluster, which is directly connected to the Jewel Box by the cable cars. We also have the Siloso Beach zone for the ‘hip and cool’ adult crowd. Other leisure offerings include the Tanjong and Serapong championship golf course, the emerging luxury residential precinct in Sentosa Cove, and Resorts World Sentosa which opened earlier this year.

The success of Sentosa’s transformation is evident in its visitorship, which increased from 3.4 million in 2001 to 6.2 million in 2009. Sentosa is now on track to register 15 to 20 million visitors for this financial year. This is a seven-fold increase over the past decade. To ensure that this target is achieved and sustained, Sentosa will continue to rejuvenate and grow its suite of attractions. Its inter-island travel network is also being enhanced to support the increased visitorship. In this regard, the Jewel Cable Cars, with its expanded passenger capacity, will help to further improve accessibility to the host of leisure and entertainment offerings in Sentosa.

Transforming the Singapore Tourism Landscape

The redevelopment of Sentosa and the cable cars are part of our larger ongoing plans to transform Singapore’s tourism and leisure landscape. Other key developments in the near future include the new International Cruise Terminal at Marina South, which will help position Singapore as one of the leading cruise hubs in the region; the first phase of Singapore’s new Gardens by the Bay, which will be ready by end 2011; and the River Safari in Mandai.These projects will augment Singapore’s exciting repertoire of attractions and leisure precincts just as MFLG has successfully transformed the Mount Faber cable car station into a vibrant and compelling tourism destination - The Jewel Box - an upscale tourist destination that also offers a unique dining experience through its five F&B establishments.

Conclusion

In conclusion, I would like to congratulate the Mount Faber Leisure Group on the official launch of the Jewel Cable Cars.It marks the rejuvenation of an iconic development that will ensure that it continues to be a prominent landmark in Singapore’s tourism landscape.Thank you.