Underwater World Singapore

Underwater World Singapore (“UWS”)’s visitorship in 2007 surpassed that of 2006 amid record-breaking hotel rates fuelled by growing demands from business travellers and a severe supply crunch of hotel rooms, which signifi cantly impacted leisure group arrivals to Singapore. UWS’s unique fabric of self-renewal and strategic marketing was pivotal in sustaining growth in 2007. The relentless effort in innovation resulted in the birth of new exhibits that rejuvenated and strengthened interest for UWS. Anticipating the challenges in 2007, UWS moved to enhance brand equity and draw in leisure tourists by implementing new interactive experiences through creative advertisements that built a strategic leverage against local and regional competing attractions. UWS also invested in outdoor media that allowed it to creatively display visuals for maximum impact and exposure.

In 2007, UWS continued to offer new, exciting and interactive exhibits to visitors. Our new marketing campaign has also strengthened UWS’s overall impression to visitors and differentiated UWS from other aquariums in the region.

In February 2007, in celebration of the Lunar New Year of the Pig, UWS exhibited the Pig-nosed Turtle in a uniquely designed, world’s largest giant gold ingot tank to wish all visitors longevity and good fortune. Visitors had the opportunity to try their luck and skill at tossing coins into specially designed tank-in-tank wishing wells built inside the giant gold ingot. Monies collected were donated in full to support the conservation efforts of Waterways Watch Society.

In May 2007, UWS catalysed the integration of aquatic science and wireless technology by introducing the Radio Frequency Identifi cation (“RFID”) System making it the world’s fi rst oceanarium to do so. RFID is an automatic identifi cation technology, where RFID tags with unique identifi cation numbers (“ID”) are embedded in the bodies of the fi shes. Within a detectable range, the fi sh and its ID will be tracked by the antenna on the exhibit window. A picture and information on the fi sh would automatically be retrieved from the database and instantly displayed on the computer screen in front of the exhibit. Visitors are able to navigate through the detailed information about it simply by clicking on the appropriate icons on the computer touch screen.

In December 2007, the Mystical Anti Gravity Interactive Concept Tank or MAGIC-T was the latest avant-garde attraction at UWS. Visitors are able to feed the fi shes enclosed in the MAGIC-T, through openings in the side and not have any water splashing out of the tank. Under normal circumstances and the laws of physics, water would fl ow out through any opening in the middle of a water-fi lled tank. The MAGIC-T however, defi es gravity with its specially designed mechanism that creates a vacuum at the top of the tank and maintains low pressure such that water does not come gushing out of the outlets.

Competition from new and existing attractions locally and within the region coupled with the shortages of hotel rooms continue to remain a challenge to the business of UWS. To mitigate the risks, UWS will continue to revamp existing exhibits and launch new displays focusing on interactive experiences, in order to create the differentiation necessary to stay competitive.

Simultaneously, additional effort shall be taken up to sell products and services to increase the per pax spent of visitors to UWS.

Underwater World Pattaya

Underwater World Pattaya (“UWP”)’s visitorship during 2007 continued to be adversely affected by lower domestic consumption as a result of concerns of surging oil prices and political uncertainty. Competition from Siam Ocean World in Bangkok and other up-and-coming destinations such as Ko Chang (Elephant Island), Hua Hin and Phuket were other contributing factors.

UWP launched the “River Otter” Exhibit in April 2007 to welcome the Songkran festival. More than 60 guests from the local and national press, TV stations and magazine publishers attended the press conference that was held for the occasion.

UWP showcased the RFID Exhibit together with the Science Museum of Bangkok and UWS in the month-long Science Exhibit held at the Queen Sirikit Convention Hall starting from 27 June 2007. The application of RFID technology in UWP was the first in an aquarium in Thailand.

In October 2007, UWP became the fi rst aquarium in Thailand to exhibit rare Shark Rays. The Shark Ray is a unique species as it looks like a hybrid between a shark and a stingray and feeds mainly on small crustaceans like crabs or shrimps.

Strong competition from alternative attractions and high fuel prices continue to pose challenges.

Chengdu Oceanarium

Construction of the oceanarium is underway with major piling work completed in the last quarter of 2007. Despite challenges from extreme weather conditions and rising raw material prices, the project is scheduled for completion by end of 2008.