SINGAPORE: With the opening of Marina Bay Sands on Tuesday, competition between the two integrated resorts has officially begun.

So, what do people think of Singapore’s latest attraction?

Said a Singaporean, who visited Sands on the opening day: "I’ve been to Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) and it’s more Chinese over there. Here it’s more angmoh!"

Said another visitor: "There are more attractions in RWS as I can see, and you can really feel the casino atmosphere when you come to RWS entrance."

Outside the casino at Sands, punters queue to sign up for its privilege points scheme.

While there had been some issues at RWS on sloppy attire, there were no shorts and slippers in sight at Sands.

"Dressing yourself nicely, you look better, you look cleaner," said a local, who visited Sands to try his luck at the casino. "People look at you not so much like a local. And it may bring you luck and you may win money on that!"

Tourism figures for March were exceptionally good, and the latest forecast suggests that total arrivals for 2010 could surpass the 12 million mark, no doubt due to the improving world economy as well as the opening of the two integrated resorts.

Inbound tour operators said enquiries for Marina Bay Sands have been increasing.

However, some leisure tour operators said that they are sticking to Resorts World Sentosa for now, as it boils down to the difference in appeal.

"For Sands—wise, it’s mainly convention area," said Ron Lim, general manager of Cross Road Tours & Travel. "Whereas Resorts World got Universal Studios as a support. And besides Universal Studios, there are still a few other places in Sentosa."

Lim also noted that room rates at Marina Bay Sands are about 25 per cent more expensive than those at Resorts World, which could dampen enthusiasm from his customers, who tend to be families from Taiwan and the region.

Other travel agencies said Marina Bay Sands will feature more on their itineraries when the SkyPark opens in June.

Wendy Leong, general manager of City Tours, said Sands will still benefit from tourists on free—and—easy tours.

She added that her company, which runs hop—on—hop—off sightseeing bus tours, will add a stop at Marina Bay Sands.

Retailers at the new integrated resort are also confident that business will pick up once the resort is complete.

Currently, only 35 out of 300 stores are open. But some view it as a blessing.

"It’s not such a bad thing, because we don’t get so much competition," said Jeannie Ang, advertising and promotions manager for shoe retailer Hush Puppies.

Jimmy Fong, chief executive officer of Afor Limited, which runs Apple reseller EpiCentre, said his shop benefited from visitors that thronged the resort on opening day, and believes that crowds will only get bigger.

Marina Bay Sands expects half of its retail shops to be ready for business in time for the grand opening on June 23.

— CNA/yb

So with fierce competition, both resorts world sentosa and marina bay sands will consistently try to improve their goods and services, so as to attract more customers. But of course, from singapore's point of view and also singaporeans point of view, no matter which does well, singapore's economy will still boom. With a matter of fact, i'm sure we all do hope that the hotels and casinos will do their best at attaining the best profit attainable. Conclusion? Hotels and casinos flourish, singapore's economy flourish and also hopefully our income flourish. Haha. With the opening of the two tourist attraction spots, much more jobs are also created. However, sad to say, there are pros and cons to all matters or most matters. With the opening of casinos, the same question is asked over and over, again and again. Will the problem of gambling worsen? If it does, many problems will arise, affecting our society and in turn might affect our economy if it gets serious. By then, won't we be back to square one or even worse? Although our beloved government have stepped in by putting up measures to prevent this from happening, further questions arise such as "Is it enough?" and more. Certain things are definately proven useless though, such as the $100 entrance fee. With the casino brought to our doorstep, what's paying for $100 to enter a casino compared to going to vegas or genting where you have to pay for journeys and hotel fares? What do you guys think? For now, singaporeans can only sit back and watch what is going to happen. Something good? or something bad...