Resorts World Sentosa will “be ready” when Singapore’s Gambling Regulatory Authority considers its casino license renewal in 2026, the corporate’s CEO Lee Shi Ruh told CNBC late last month.
In November 2024, Singapore’s gambling agency announced it was renewing the integrated resort’s casino license for 2 years, as a substitute of three, citing “unsatisfactory” tourism performance from 2021 to 2023. Â
The announcement got here after Resorts World Sentosa had pledged to take a position $6.8 billion Singapore dollars ($5.3 billion) to renew and expand the integrated resort.
The truncated license renewal has not modified Resorts World Sentosa’s expansion or investment plans, Lee said.
The corporate opened two recent attractions in 2025, Minion Land on the Universal Studios Singapore theme park, and the Singapore Oceanarium, which replaced the integrated resort’s older S.E.A. Aquarium.
“This yr is admittedly a game-changing yr for us,” she said. “Over the subsequent few years… to 2030, we shall be continuing to launch recent attractions.”
In announcing the two-year license renewal, the Gambling Regulatory Authority considered Resorts World Sentosa’s ability to “develop, maintain and promote” itself as a compelling tourist destination.
When asked which of those areas the resort is targeted on, Lee said: “The large push for us is admittedly transforming Resorts World Sentosa right into a premium lifestyle destination.”
Tapping into ‘experiences’
Shopping, once a top priority for travelers in Asia, shouldn’t be a priority within the resort’s transformation, said Lee.
“Our focus is admittedly into experiences,” Lee said.
The choice to switch a “Madagascar” movie-themed area of Universal Studios Singapore with Minion Land was, partially, related to the universal appeal of the characters within the “Despicable Me” franchise, she added.
“Minions stood out because … this yellow character may be very resonant to all ages of tourists, and all world wide due to the language that they use. It resonates from Asia to Europe to America and all over the place else. So to us, there’s a typical language,” she said.
Minions speak their very own language, called Minionese, which includes elements of English, Spanish, Italian, Chinese and Tagalog, amongst others, in line with the “Despicable Me” fandom website.
Resorts World Sentosa can be planning to open recent hotels, including The Laurus, a luxury hotel designed like a “collector’s home” in Singapore, that is about to open later in 2025, Lee said.
A rendering of Resorts Worlds Sentosa’s planned waterfront lifestyle complex set to open in 2030.
Resorts World Sentosa
In coming years, the integrated resort is planning to launch Super Nintendo World inside Universal Studios Singapore, in addition to an elevated waterfront lifestyle complex with 700 rooms, climbing trails and a 289-foot light sculpture, she said.
“The waterfront lifestyle complex is admittedly going to reinforce the appeal of the Greater Southern Waterfront,” she said. The complex is a “brownfield project,” which shall be visible from mainland Singapore.
Lee declined to comment on whether the planned lifestyle complex can have gaming facilities.
—CNBC’s Kaela Ling contributed to this report.
