Las Vegas Sands Corp has broken ground on its US$8 billion expansion of Singapore integrated resort Marina Bay Sands.
The company held an official groundbreaking ceremony on the site of the expansion project on Tuesday, attended by, among others, LVS co-founder Dr Miriam Adelson, President and COO Patrick Dumont and Singapore’s prime Minister Lawrence Wong.
At the heart of the expansion project is a new 570-suite luxury hotel tower capped with signature rooftop and dining experiences, luxury retail boutiques, gaming, holistic spa and wellness amenities, and around 200,000 square feet of premium meeting space, the company said. A purpose-built 15,000-seat arena aims to enhance the live entertainment scene in Asia, it added.
“With its opening in 2010, our founder Sheldon G Adelson embarked on a journey in Singapore with Marina Bay Sands and the people of Singapore that promised to change the face of tourism in the region,” said LVS Chairman and CEO Robert Goldstein.
“Fifteen years later, we have delivered on these ambitions and more. Marina Bay Sands is the world’s most successful integrated resort in history and the gold standard in the industry. It has been truly incredible to witness Mr Adelson’s vision come to life and we are proud to carry his legacy forward with today’s groundbreaking ceremony for our new development here. We have every intention of delivering a product that will be the envy of the hospitality industry and ushers in a new era of luxury tourism in Singapore.”
In comments to local media outlet The Straits Times, Dumont said he expects the development to provide even greater appeal to affluent business and leisure travellers upon opening, currently anticipated to take place in early 2031.
“Southeast Asia is filled with young people who are entrepreneurial, aspirational and working very hard and creating business success, and as that occurs, they want to consume and experience things that are unique, luxury and aspirational,” he explained.
“This is going to be the most luxurious and high-serviced hotel in the world.”
Reiterating the “incredibly desirable” allure of Singapore, Dumont added, “It is very important for us to continue to invest and grow our capabilities, to maintain leadership in the industry. This is the next evolution in high-value tourism investment.”
The groundbreaking ceremony comes after MBS recently completed the renovation of its entire hotel room inventory – part of a massive US$1.75 billion multi-year transformation of the existing facilities of the iconic integrated resort.
The renovations, which included the expansion of its suite offering, sees MBS now comprise a total of 1,850 hotel rooms including 775 suites – up from 180 suites previously.
