Strategic Management

Table of Contents

Table of Contents........................................................................................................ii
1.Introduction............................................................................................................. 1
History.....................................................................................................................1
Management Structure............................................................................................2
Corporate.................................................................................................................... 2
Vision & Mission.......................................................................................................2
Vision................................................................................................................... 2
Mission................................................................................................................. 3
Objectives................................................................................................................ 3
SWOT Analysis............................................................................................................4
Policies....................................................................................................................... 6
Resource Management...............................................................................................6
Achievements.............................................................................................................7
Milestones reached during 2006.............................................................................8
Awards........................................................................................................................ 9
Tourism Statistics Singapore and Sentosa ...............................................................11
Conclusion and Recommendation ...........................................................................13
References................................................................................................................15

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1. Introduction

Sentosa built in the serene environment with hardly any damage to the natural tranquility,
Sentosa is home to numerous beautiful attraction sites, hotels, resorts, dining chambers, beautiful
beaches and shopping and many more entertainment such. Sentosa is located in the southern tip
of Singapore. Sentosa Island is one of the big tourist attractions in Singapore. The island is
considered being a quick getaway as well as a popular place among Singaporeans as well as
foreigner’s. Sentosa provides many different attractions for all age groups.

Sentosa provides a range of excitements which includes, for example The Dolphin Lagoon,
which provides total excitement for aqua marine lovers and for the whole family. Visitors who
love the out-door environment, such as wildlife Butterfly’s, can look into the Butterfly Park (for
a wide range of wild Butterflies) & a wide range of insects. Sentosa further, more has the tallest
Sky Tower in Singapore, which has the tallest observatory tower which can be viewed at 131
meters below. Due the height of the observation tower, viewers are able to have a clear view of
neighboring countries.

Singapore’s much popular symbol which is the 37 meters high, the half fish and half lion
(Merlion) brings visitors’ closer to the sea nature as well as the wild.

People who love the sea & beach, Sentosa provides three man made beaches which are named,
Tanjong, Palawan & Siloso. Visitors who love outdoor games, such as volleyball can go to
Siloso. Tanjong is the quietest for an evening dinner after a hard days walk at the hip beach club.
Palawan provides visitors who love to have a swim in the ocean.

History

Sentosa was historically a small fishing village set in the deepest setbacks of humanity. History
records diseases (later found to be malaria), killed many due to the water stagnation which
enabled the growth of fungi. It was used as a British Military academy until 1986 but in 1987 the
Independent Singapore government decided to construct in its place a holiday resort for the
benefit of locals and also to attract tourists.

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Sentosa Development Corporation incorporated in 1972 was the constructor and supervisor of
these plans on behalf of the Singapore Government. Developments and additions to the initial
plan has stretched Sentosa throughout the whole island, and currently in the world, Sentosa is
known to be “Singapore's premier island resort getaway with multi-faceted appeal, teeming with
events all year round. Just 15 minutes from the city, it is a unique blend of leisure and
recreational facilities including family attractions, sea sports, golf as well as hotel
accommodation and retreats”

Management Structure

Sentosa
Development
Corporation

Sentosa leisure
Sentosa Cove Pte Southern Island Mount Faber
Management Pte Sentosa Golf Club
Ltd Development leisure Group
Ltd

From the figure 1.2, it clearly shows that Sentosa is managed under an umbrella group, which is
known as (Sentosa Development Corporation (SDC). SDC as a statutory board operating under
Ministry of Trade Industry was started on 1st September 1972.

Corporate

Vision & Mission

Vision

The Vision Statement of Sentosa claim that they are the “leader in shaping leisure and lifestyle
experiences, plays a integral role in making Singapore a global city”

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They further state that they will achieve this goal by enhancing their strong and unique
capabilities in leisure management. Their unique techniques that are capable of providing a
serene and peaceful surrounding for the visitors, is to be preserved and maintained by all
employees at all times, to make Sentosa the number one leisure and entertainment facility in
Asia. Employing and training the citizens of Singapore to “deliver the Sentosa experience” will
make sure that the standards are maintained. And providing top class leisure experience for
everybody who chooses Sentosa is one of the main goals of this company.

Mission
The Mission of Sentosa is to “embrace the conservation of fauna and flora, and environmental
practices for sustainable development and protection of the natural resources, heritage and the
island’s history.”

In other words, Sentosa not only aims to provide and become the best leisure and entertainment
provider in Asia but they also aim to preserve the locality and their cultures and most importantly
refrain from becoming hazardous to the environment. All the resorts and sites that belong on the
Sentosa Island are involved in this project of preserving the green and the culture of the island.

Objectives

 A main objective of Sentosa is to educate the public about ways and means to preserve
greenery and contribute to the green challenge. A strong message emitted by Sentosa to
the public is to preserve the natural habitat that belongs to Singapore. By preserving, the
habitat, Sentosa believes that historical culture cannot be tainted. This is mostly important
in securing their belief that they are able to provide the highest standard of leisure,
entertainment and living for their clients. Sentosa supports scientific experiments through
which they gain knowledge and specify strategies that can be followed. The importance
of these experiments and research is the need to specifically work out strategies that can
successfully and most effectively preserve nature.

 Sentosa promotes the gaining of knowledge about the effective nature conservation
policies, strategies, the preservation of its island and natural resources through various
scientific surveys, researches and other assessments.

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 The promotions of the above activities are also done through different public forums,
conferences, media reports, programs and events.

 Sentosa aims at involving the community and the public in all projects that are related to
the contribution, promotion, preservation and development of nature, eco-systems,
wildlife, natural heritage and culture.

 Their also enhance the public awareness for the environmental conservation and make
people enjoy their walk of life into the nature not only at the present but also for the
future.

(Corporate Social Responsibility, (2009). Available from

http://www.sentosa.com.sg/corporate/csr.html [Accessed 30 June 2009].)

SWOT Analysis

Strengths

1. Host for major events

• Forbes Global CEO Conference 2007, where the world’s leading industries captains get
to meet in one place and have intensive, interactive discussions and build long term
partnerships.

• Siloso Beach Party 31 Dec 2007- New year’s eve Siloso beach party is one of the biggest
outdoor beach parties in Singapore which plays mix of music and attract locals and
foreigners.

• Barclays Singapore Open 2007- Asia’s richest national golf open held on 1st to 4th Nov.

2. Strategic Location

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Sentosa is an island by itself which spreads over 500-hectares and it includes various family
attractions, sandy beaches, water sports, golf courses and hotel resorts etc. and easy to reach by
ferry. The greatest highlight here is the Merlion that represents Singapore’s official mascot.

3. Political Stability

Singapore government is highly stable and promotes business. This is the greatest strength for
the Sentosa.

4. Wonderful infrastructure

Perfect infrastructure that includes colorful mosaic sculptures of various creatures from the sea,
monorail touring, and spice and herb plantation depicting Indo-Malay Archipelago.

(Warren, W., Tettoni, L.I., Invernizzi, L. 2001. Singapore, City of Gardens, Thomas
Telford.)

Weakness

1. There is limitation in the land space available which prohibits future development.

2. Lack of strong workforce with hospitality specialization.

Opportunities

There are various opportunities open to the Sentosa Islands. Some of them are listed below:

1. Singapore government lends full support for successful infrastructure and promotes
enhancements on regular basis.

2. Singapore is termed as a shopping hub and is known for its clean and safe environment
and also the best blend of east and west.

3. It provides opportunities for the stakeholders to expand their global network, brand
presence and to build awareness to the residents

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(Partnership Opportunities, (2009) Available from

http://www.sentosa.com.sg/corporate/partnership.html [Accessed 30 June 2009].)

Threats

It is required for any business to overcome all the threats for its prosperity. The following are the
threats faced by Sentosa,

1. There are many local tourisms being promoted by the regional countries.

2. Sentosa faces competition from other forms of resorts, theme parks and the casinos.

3. The other threats include the recession in the country which has reduced the number of
people entering the place, various disease breaks and terrorism activities.

(Resorts World where Imagination Lives. Available from

http://www.slideshare.net/d0minic77/resorts-world2 [Accessed 30 June 2009].)

Policies

Sentosa follows a privacy policy by keeping all the personal information safe, secure and private.
They generally password protect the information that is got from a person and information are
contained in a server located behind the “firewall” so as to protect the contents from the outside
users. However they have external parties to verify the standards. These external parties must
also abide by certain privacy standards

(The Sentosa – Legal (2008), Available from

http://www.thesentosa.com/en/hotel/beaufort/singapore/sentosa/corporate/legal/index.html
[Accessed 29 June 2009].)

Resource Management

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Sentosa resorts have been recently given to the Sembawang engineers who have the expertise to
manage complex projects. One the powerful tool that they use to manage manpower which is the
requirement for their success is the Primavera. This enables in the critical allocation of the
manpower. This tool provides a standardized platform which helps to keep a track of the work in
progress in continuum. Thereby any issues that arise are addressed spontaneously. This is a web-
based tool enabling the workers to work from anywhere at any time

(Crown Systems Pvt Ltd, 2008. Project Management Today. Available from
http://www.crownsys.com.sg/newsletter/May08.pdf [Accessed 30 June 2009].)

Achievements

Sentosa has been under continuous development since 1972. The Sentosa Leisure Group
formerly called the Sentosa Development Corporation had taken great efforts to turn the island to
a tourist spot.

All over the 1970’s attractions had been opening up in the island to bring in more tourists. There
was a cable car ride linking Mount Faber and Sentosa, Fort Silosa and a Wax Museum.

In 1980’s, the Iconic Musical Fountain and a Ferry terminal to provide service to the mainland
were established. Many reclamation works was conducted simultaneously on the island.

In the late 1990’s three resorts came out in the spectacular island to welcome the visitors. These
include the Shangri-La’s Rasa Sentosa Resort, Sijori Sentosa Resort and NTUC Sentosa Beach
Resort.

Sentosa’s achievements do not stop here. Many clubs were opened which faced the sea. This has
paved way to the welcome of more tourists and has enhanced the infrastructure as well. Sentosa
is expecting about 20 million visitors in 2010. To cope up with crowd, many new parallel roads
are under construction. The Resorts World at Sentosa which is considered to be its dream project
is expected to enlighten the island. It includes the FestiveWalk in the central zone, Universal
studios in the east and the water attractions in the west. This project is more than 50% completed
and is expected to be the greatest achievement of the island

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(Miriah, C.V. 2007. Sentosa IR: Reclamation is progress. Available from

http://wildsingaporenews.blogspot.com/2007/12/sentosa-ir-reclamation-is-progress.html
[Accessed 29 June 2009].)

The major milestone in 2006 is elaborated below.

Milestones reached during 2006

• Completed the monorail system

o The $140 million monorail system was completed within the course of the year.
This enables Sentosa to provide much better faster and more convenient
transportation system.

• The birth of many new and exciting adventures

o ‘Hip’ factor at Siloso beach – One of the main upgrades to Sentosa Leisure Island
is the exciting new beach and built along it the Siloso Beach Resort. This also
includes an international sunset club. Similar to all the existing resorts at the time,
Siloso Beach resort also includes villas and residential areas.

o Songs of the Sea – this attraction became a huge success secluding an award as
well. It’s a show produces using water jets, laser lights, pyrotechnics and fire. It’s
a theme show about the sea and underwater world.

o Upgrades in the amphitheatre – new additions to the amphitheatre during 2006

were cockatoos, pythons and macaques. The amphitheatre also accommodates the
world famous Hi5 children’s singing group for children’s entertainment.

o Palawan Beach – the already existing Palawan beach was upgraded to attract a
new segment of visitors. The upgrades have highlighted family space and the
renovations provide leisure time for families.

• More means of convenient access to the sites and Sentosa

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o This includes the new monorail and more buses operating to and from the island
and within the island as well.

Awards

The Awards won by Sentosa in the recent years have made them become one of the leading
Amusement parks in South East Asia. Some of the awards won by Sentosa are listed below,

a. IAAPA (International Association of Amusement Parks and attractions)

This is one of the prestigious awards for Sentosa given at the Asia Attractions Expo 2009 at a
ceremony held in Seoul, Korea. This award means a lot because this was based on the online
vote which was opened both to the public and the industry professionals as Sentosa was facing a
strong competition in South East Asia by the Hong Kong Disneyland.

(Westerman, A. 2009. Sentosa wins top award for 3rd consecutive year at Asian Attractions
Awards. Available from http://www.thrillnetwork.com/news/2833/sentosa-wins-top-award-for-
3rd-consecutive-year-at-asian-attractions-awards.html [Accessed 29 June 2009].)

b. In 2008

This was the year in which Sentosa grabbed almost all the awards not only in Singapore but also
in South East Asia

Excellent Service award

This award was given to Sentosa from a prestigious organization SPRING Singapore. It won the
award for attraction sector and the year of Excellent Service Award. Out of 300 winners Sentosa
grabbed 120 which were higher than 2007 where they had 113 winners.

ATTA

It is called as Asia Travel & Tourism Creative Awards 2008 which promotes creativity in the
travel and tourism industry in South East Asia. This award was given to Sentosa for the second

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time consecutively. This award will help Sentosa to attract more people and enhance the number
of industries in the resort.

International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA)

This award was given to Sentosa for their best advertising, Marketing and Public Relations in the
attraction Industry. They bagged two awards in 2008 under Class 4.

Customer Relationship Excellence (CRE) Awards 2008

Julian Ong from Sentosa beach Operations was the winner in the CRE wards from Sentosa. He
was among the Service Excellent Service Award and represented not only the Sentosa islands but
also the Singapore.

The CRE awards is organized by the Customer Service Consortium (APCSC) based in Hong
Kong which recognizes top service representatives from Asia pacific region for the service they
have provided with world Class Service standards.

CSSP (Community Safety and Security Programme)

The award recognizes and encourages the local safety and security. This was clinched by Sentosa
for the recognition of Sentosa joint Bomb blast evacuation exercise with the Singapore Defense
and the Police.

This is responsible to provide a multi racial community and build a safe and secured
environment in Singapore.

ASEANTA

This was the winning label to one of the attraction in Sentosa (Songs of the Sea). Within the year
of open this attraction has grabbed the Second award. This ASEANTA ward was given in
Bangkok which gives a boost to the travel experience with unique features.

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Songs of the Sea was created by a designer Yves Pepin which attracted around 1 million
Audiences with the year of open in Sentosa.

(Awards, (2009), Available from

http://www.sentosa.com.sg/about_us/sentosa_island/awards.html [Accessed 29 June 2009].)

Tourism Statistics Singapore and Sentosa

Tourism sector is one of the most important sectors which are being focused by Singapore. In
2007, there was around 5.5% increase in the visitors’ arrival in Singapore. At the present stage
Singapore has become one of the attraction spot with all the awards which Sentosa has been
receiving and attracting more and more visitors coming into Singapore. The chart below shows
the increase in the tourism Sector in Singapore.

(Source: Singapore Tourism Board. 2008. Annual Report on tourism statistics 2007. Available
fromhttp://app.stb.gov.sg/Data/pages/12/b53b3a3d6ab90ce0268229151c9bde11/annual_report_
2007.pdf [Accessed 30 June 2009].)

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Singapore has many places of Attractions like Sentosa, Night Safari, Singapore Cable Car,
Singapore Zoo, Jurong Bird Park. There was no surprise in the tourism sector that Sentosa Island
attracted more amount of tourist. Even though there was a decrease in the visitor in Sentosa in
the year 2007 it still stands as the first in the paid access sector. And orchard road stand next with
about 73% of visitors attraction spot in the free Access sector.

The Graph below shows the percentage of visitors for three years.

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(Source: Singapore Tourism Board. 2008. Annual Report on tourism statistics 2007. Available
fromhttp://app.stb.gov.sg/Data/pages/12/b53b3a3d6ab90ce0268229151c9bde11/annual_report_
2007.pdf [Accessed 30 June 2009].)

Conclusion and Recommendation

The analysis will provide conclusive comments on Sentosa in Singapore. The future scope and
some recommendations for Sentosa are also being mentioned here.

The Amusement park (Sentosa) will provide an excellent experience to everyone who visits
Singapore and it is also opening gates for many other industries to be put up in the island. With
the tourism board of Singapore encouraging the Sentosa Development Corporation, in the
coming years we can see more number of tourists and locals visiting the Sentosa. With all the
Awards and the Service Excellence it will continue to be the greatest competitor to Hong Kong
Disneyland. In this competitive world, it is very essential for the Tourism Board and the
government of Singapore to support Sentosa so that it not only helps them but also it will provide
the government with more revenue from the Corporation. From the study we can see that both
the tourists and the locals are in love with this Amusement park.

However there are a few recommendations that I would like to give to enhance the advantage of
the Sentosa islands further.

The places in Sentosa are almost spectacular. There are always drawbacks in all good activities
as well. With the recommendations given below, it is expected that Sentosa would attract more
visitors in near future.

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People all over the world are greatly attracted by the water rides. Sentosa lacks in these activities.
The management can work on the water activities to develop the infrastructure in a better way
that would call in more people and kids.

Sentosa has many rich resorts and restaurants inside the island. By opening resorts at lower cost
(can term them as budget resorts), Sentosa can attract people even during the recession. With the
opening of water rides, people would enjoy staying at these budget resorts and enjoy the new
island atmosphere.

Another major change that I would recommend to the management is their working timing.
There are many activities which close by early evenings. This at times annoys the visitors who
pay a huge amount to enter the island but are compelled to leave before they could complete all
of them on time. Thus the management can make the timing of the various events more flexible.

Thus by implementing the above mentioned changes, the management is said to be developed
more strategically to attract more visitors.

The places in the night can also be improved and can be supported by HKTB so that in the future
Hong Kong can see a rapid growth in tourist visiting their country.

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References

1. Warren, W., Tettoni, L.I., Invernizzi, L. 2001. Singapore, City of Gardens, Thomas
Telford.

2. Awards, (2009), Available from

http://www.sentosa.com.sg/about_us/sentosa_island/awards.html [Accessed 29 June
2009].

3. Corporate Social Responsibility, (2009). Available from

http://www.sentosa.com.sg/corporate/csr.html [Accessed 30 June 2009].

4. Crown Systems Pvt Ltd, 2008. Project Management Today. Available from
http://www.crownsys.com.sg/newsletter/May08.pdf [Accessed 30 June 2009].

5. Masterplan projects, (2009), Available from

http://www.sentosa.com.sg/about_us/sentosa_island/masterplan_projects_masterproject.h
tml [Accessed 28 June 2009].

6. Milestones, (2009), Available from

http://www.sentosa.com.sg/about_us/sentosa_island/milestones.html [Accessed 29 June
2009].

7. Miriah, C.V. 2007. Sentosa IR: Reclamation is progress. Available from

http://wildsingaporenews.blogspot.com/2007/12/sentosa-ir-reclamation-is-progress.html
[Accessed 29 June 2009].

8. Partnership Opportunities, (2009) Available from

http://www.sentosa.com.sg/corporate/partnership.html [Accessed 30 June 2009].

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9. Resorts World where Imagination Lives. Available from

http://www.slideshare.net/d0minic77/resorts-world2 [Accessed 30 June 2009].

10. Welcome to Sentosa, (2009), Available from

http://www.sentosa.com.sg/explore_sentosa/index.html [Accessed 29 June 2009].

11. Singapore Tourism Board. 2008. Annual Report on tourism statistics 2007. Available
from
http://app.stb.gov.sg/Data/pages/12/b53b3a3d6ab90ce0268229151c9bde11/annual_report
_2007.pdf [Accessed 30 June 2009].

12. The Sentosa – Legal (2008), Available from

http://www.thesentosa.com/en/hotel/beaufort/singapore/sentosa/corporate/legal/index.ht
ml [Accessed 29 June 2009].

13. Vision and Values.(2009), Available from

http://www.sentosa.com.sg/corporate/vision_mission.html [Accessed 28 June 2009].

14. Westerman, A. 2009. Sentosa wins top award for 3rd consecutive year at Asian
Attractions Awards. Available from http://www.thrillnetwork.com/news/2833/sentosa-
wins-top-award-for-3rd-consecutive-year-at-asian-attractions-awards.html [Accessed 29
June 2009].

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