Relax - Catch the buzz, fine-tune the theme park pricing

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Catch the buzz, fine-tune the theme park pricing

By Lee U-Wen , The Business Times | Sun, Nov 22 2009

A family outing to Universal Studios park in Singapore may not come cheap to some.

Catch the buzz, fine-tune the theme park pricing

Keywords

resorts world

theme park

(SINGAPORE) It is just a matter of months now until the grand opening of the Universal Studios theme park in Singapore, but that excitement was tempered somewhat when the much-awaited ticket prices were finally made public on Wednesday.

Those who had been hoping for something more affordable would certainly have been baulking at the admission costs, because an outing to the famous attraction - South-east Asia's first and only Universal Studios - will not come cheap.

A one-day weekend pass will cost $72 for adults, $52 for children and $36 for senior citizens. Visiting on weekdays will be slightly easier on the wallet - $66, $48 and $32 respectively.

Let's do the math: A typical family of, say, two adults and three children planning an outing to the theme park on a Saturday will have to fork out $300 in ticket charges alone. Driving into Sentosa will cost an extra $12 ($2 per person and $2 for the car), and at least another $3 in car park fees on the island. Factor in some exorbitantly priced meals, snacks and a souvenir or two and a day's outing could easily come up to well over $400.

Staying at one of the Sentosa integrated resort's (IR) hotels is also going to set one back a fair sum. The rates for three hotels have since been made public - deluxe rooms at the Festive Hotel start at $400 a night, it's $450 to stay at the Hard Rock Hotel and $500 at Hotel Michael.

My initial worry is that many Singaporeans, particularly from the lower-income groups, will probably never get the chance to visit and enjoy the theme park, even if there are some subsidies thrown in.

If Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) wants to realistically achieve its target of seeing up to 30,000 visitors at Universal Studios each day, there are no two ways about it: attracting the locals is their best hope.

Getting them to visit - and multiple times, at that - is key for any attraction if investment costs are to be recouped. The tourist segment is crucial, too, but most foreigners would likely visit the theme park just once and then choose to see other attractions on subsequent visits.

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Readers' Comments

The names given to the buildings were totally lacking in elegance or grace. The interiors look like something you get from your back-yard contractors to come out with the cheapest quotes. The decors are so out-of-whack! It just look so ridicously uncoordinated. Judging from the amount of attractions in a tightly squeezed site would certainly turn off would-be-visitors. What works in Genting Highland will not necessary work here. It will be a BIG FLOP from the start. I seriously wonder who are they trying to attract?

by Leonopteryx, posted on 07 01 2010, 18:27

hahaha let the stupid foreigner spend their money in singapore:) for us, we not so interested.. everywhere in the world got hotel in a island also.. so whats the big fuss about sentosa IR?

and for universal studio, i rather go see amazing japan and their culture and spectacular sight while going to universal studio osaka.

don't tell me i come to singapore (which has nothing to see, except so called clean city which is not so clean.. simply because government hired a lot of CHEAP labour from india, china and bangladesh to sweep the floor) JUST to visit universal STUDIO?

maybe transit in singapore to australia or europe just to see one day in singapore is ok.. (which most of the foreigners do, because air craft have to refuel in singapore ) :)

by cookie3373, posted on 07 01 2010, 11:04

Is there really a need to visit the theme park? No...... theme park has never been cheap because of the high cost to set-up, operate, maintain and payment of salaries to the staff. Of course, we can go to the cheaper and very small ones set up all over Singapore and even then, they are not really cheap if you are talking about the short minute rides.

Sometimes, we forget that there are many ways of having enjoyable activities that are either cheap or free if we think harder. During my time, our parents did not give us pocket money and we had to create activities for ourselves. Nowadays, going to the beach, Pulau Ubin, Farm Way, watching the monkeys at Seletar etc. are also great way of having fun with loved ones.

by malinablu, posted on 07 01 2010, 10:57

As I have mentioned, Universal Studio's target clients are not ordinary Singaporeans. They are targetting well-heeled Singaporeans, tourists and the MICE sector. They are not bothered if ordinary heartlander Singaporeans cannot afford the admission prices because the project is a commercial money-making enterprise - not a charity.

by Pushkin62, posted on 28 11 2009, 10:15

It'll sure help my stock to go up higher.... fly baby fly... ;)

by extremepower, posted on 27 11 2009, 12:02

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