New projects and faster ferries will spur comeback for resorts

THE Bintan cluster of resorts is looking to make a comeback, with $1.2 billion of fresh investments in tourism and residential projects.

And to keep tourists coming back to the Indonesian island to the south-east of Singapore, ferries that can halve the 55-minute ride from the Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal are on the cards.

HOLIDAY IN PARADISE: Riding on Singapore's tourism boom, developers have committed over $1.2 billion in new hotels, golf courses and even a marina for Bintan in the last 18 months. Photo/ BINTAN RESORTS

The new investments, committed over the last 18 months, are the first since the Banyan Tree Group opened the Angsana Resort seven years ago. The sum, though small in comparison to Singapore's two $5billion integrated resorts (IRs), will yield developments on sites whose total size is seven times bigger than the two IRs combined.

In all, the island expects to have 5,000 hotel rooms by 2012, up from its current 1,200.

The biggest vote of confidence in Bintan came from a group of investors, including listed Malaysian company Landmarks Berhad, who are pumping $920 million into the Bintan Treasure Bay. It boasts a cluster of holiday villas built along canals, waterways and lakes, a marina, a hillside condominium, a six-star resort, four hotels, malls, spas and a medical centre.

Coming in with $380 million is another group of investors. Their plans include a resort complex housing a disco, a bowling alley, shops and a spa. Hotels targeting the emerging markets of China and India, a retirement village and a unique wedding chapel are part of their plans too.

The island's master planner, PT Bintan Resort Cakrawala, a partnership of Singaporean and Indonesian stakeholders, says building work will start in the middle of this year and the projects will open for business from late next year.

Bintan Resort vice-president Chin Chow Yoon said: 'Bintan, with its unmatched pristine resort real estate going at attractive prices, can comfortably ride the current wave of interest in the recreation and tourism sectors.'

At $110 per sq m, tourism consultant David Ling believes Bintan is good value for money, offering developers the same quality plots as in Phuket and Bali, but at half the price.

And, when compared to Singapore, the island offers something the Republic cannot match - 17,500ha of coastal land with wide open spaces and clear beaches. That is 37 times the size of Sentosa.

Indonesia's rich cultural offerings are another draw.

On talk that the island could have a casino, Mr Chin said they are 'welcome', so long as they are legal.

Since Mayang Sari opened as its first resort in 1994, the island has been on a roller-coaster ride.

In the early years, developers came in strong, with $1.2 billion invested in infrastructure and new developments like Banyan Tree, Nirwana Resort Hotel and Club Med.

Then, the 1997 Asian financial crisis, 9/11 and subsequent terror attacks, Sars and the tsunami took their toll. Some projects folded or changed hands.

Things are looking up now. The island's resorts welcomed 323,600 visitors last year, just 5 per cent shy of the 2001 record of 340,500 visitors.

Singaporeans made up half the island's visitors in the past, but that ratio has dropped to one-third, with Koreans and Japanese tourists fast catching up.

Bintan Resorts has set its sights on tripling its visitor numbers to one million by 2012.

Mr Ling believes only a natural disaster, flu pandemic or terrorist attack can derail Bintan's recovery.

'The past 10 years have been very difficult for Bintan. The next 10 years will be great.'