And the winner is… Universal Studios!

Or at least, it should be.

Going on the information that’s been made public already, Genting International is not just the apparent front-runner in the bid for the Integrated Resort and Casino on Sentosa Island. In my opinion, it should be the eventual winner! Here’s why:

The Marina IR is geared for conferences and business-centered facilities, because it is closer to the Central Business District. But Sentosa requires more family-oriented attractions.

Bahamas-based Kerzner and CapitaLand are partnering to bring in award-winning architect Frank Gehry to build the resort at Sentosa, should they win the bid. Little else is known about the proposal they have put together, remaining the most tight-lipped of the bidders.

The URA currently has a display in its Maxwell Road headquarters which trumpets the advantages of cities having well-designed buildings. Apart from being nice to look at, apparently, it brings in the tourists. But any structure on Sentosa is hardly going to feature on postcards of Singapore’s city skyline. If Gehry’s architectural genius was going to have an impact on a winning bid, he should have teamed up with bidders for the Marina IR (Las Vegas Sands).

Meanwhile, private company Eighth Wonder is teaming up with Australia's Publishing and Broadcasting Limited (PBL), Macau's Melco and US-based gaming operator Isle of Capri. Together they plan to build a S$5.5 bln resort, the biggest bid so far. The resort will include a Crown Casino (the same name as the one run by PBL in Melbourne), and a six-star Crown-branded hotel. They also have Starwood on board, which would build a hotel under the ‘W’ brand.

The consortium is confident that they will be able to attract the type of cliente that the Singapore Tourism Board is after: the high rollers. Much of PBL's casino revenue is derived from contributions from the big spenders and PBL CEO James Packer told the Business Times that he is confident that the numbers and quality (ie, how much they will spend) of the customers they can attract remains competitive.

Genting is throwing around similar superlatives. It wants to build a S$5 bln resort together with sister company Star Cruises. The resort will create 45,000 jobs and it expects to attract 10 million visitors a year by 2015. American architect Michael Graves would to build 460-room boutique hotel on the site.

But it actually doesn’t matter who Universal Studios is partnering. Each of the foreign and local contenders brings their own set of strengths (and weaknesses) to the table. But a Universal Studios theme park would be tremendous for Singapore, and would, in a sense, be the “killer app” for Sentosa, which has been wooing Singaporeans with an invigorated image and advertising campaign. Genting International’s involvement is just by-the-by. Afterall, would the ships of Genting’s sister company Star Cruises stop calling at Singapore if Genting lost the bid? I don’t think so. Does Genting’s acquisition of the UK’s largest casino operator Stanley Leisure really bring in that many more tourists to Singapore? Probably not.

But Universal Studios? That’s something else.

Addendum: 12/10 12pm: The CEO of Kerzner, Butch Kerzner has passed away in helicopter accident. CapitaLand CEO Liew Mun Leong said that both companies are fully committed in their bid for the IR.

Desiree Pakiam