• Highest ever single month of arrivals recorded in December
• Total annual guest arrivals up 50% since 2003

Singapore, 4 February 2010: Sentosa ended the decade on a high, completing a record month and record year for guest arrivals in December 2009. About 652,000 people visited the resort island in December, propelling total visitorship for the calendar year to 6.2 million. The performance was consistent with the return of positive sentiment to Singapore’s tourism industry amid the recovery of the global economy. Visitorship has steadily grown over the last seven years following the implementation of initiatives under the 2002 Sentosa Masterplan to rejuvenate the island and develop it into a world-class leisure and lifestyle destination. Sentosa’s annual visitorship has grown by 50% between 2003
and 2009.

December’s good showing was spurred by growth in both domestic and international markets, which registered year on year increases of 4% and 7% respectively. Signature events ZoukOut and Siloso Beach Party saw bigger turnouts than the previous year, while family-based marketing campaigns attracted additional guests during the school holidays.

“We are very pleased that we ended the year on a positive note and held steady during the challenging months of the downturn”, said Mike Barclay, CEO of Sentosa Development Corporation. “Over the past two years, we have been focusing on diversifying our offerings and creating value for our guests. The guest numbers show that our efforts are paying off. Even as we welcomed new attractions and businesses this past year, we want to thank our many island
partners who have continued to give us their support and have helped us to transform Sentosa

into Asia’s favourite playground. The healthy outlook for Singapore’s tourism industry marks an auspicious start to the year of the Tiger. In any case, we forecast that Resorts World Sentosa will help us to more than double annual visitorship into Sentosa in 2010.”

Adding Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) to the many leisure and lifestyle offerings already established on the island, Sentosa will be home to more than 240 attractions, restaurants, beach bars, hotels, spas and retail outlets.

The second half of 2009 saw the opening of five new attractions. Wave House Sentosa and the Azzura beach club have added to the pulse of Sentosa’s beach lifestyle, while Sentosa’s cluster of attractions at Imbiah featuring adventure, history and nature grew with the launch of the Sentosa Nature Discovery gallery, Desperados and MegaZip Adventure Park.

These new attractions, coupled with old favourites, boosted sales of Sentosa’s Choice Packages which were revamped to give guests and their families better value. The new packages were rolled out in November and offer discounts of up to 30% for selected attractions. Drawing on the popularity of the island’s beachfront and verdant outdoor setting, Sentosa is creating more night-based events to complement the many day-time activities across the island
and RWS.

Kicking off this Lunar New Year, ‘Lights of Spring’ will transform Imbiah Terrace and the Merlion Walk into an illuminated festive ground featuring eye-catching light sculptures in the shape of the twelve Zodiac animals. The popular live music evenings, Jazz by the Beach, are set to hit Siloso Beach again in April, while Sentosa’s Halloween extravaganza, Spooktacular, will make a comeback in October.