Bintan’s panoramic Lagoi Bay
Riau Islands in the massive Indonesian archipelago is yet another place in Asia where Indian entrepreneurial spirit can leave its mark.
A Singapore-Indonesian master planner and marketing initiative is offering a large site to Indian investors in Riau’s Bintan Island for building resorts and villas.
Singapore and Indonesia have a tourism development pact under which a number of sites are being offered to investors for building resorts within a 18,000-hectare waterfront area of Bintan. Bintan Resorts International (BRI), a 25-year old solid partnership between the two countries is one of the several success stories in the Asean region.
Six of the resorts are already developed and operational, offering exotic holiday opportunities to global tourists along the South China Sea. The existing resorts on the island are immensely popular among Indian tourists for corporate events, elaborate Hindu weddings cum celebrations and also as weekend getaways for the upwardly mobile professional expatriates.
In recent years, tourist arrivals from India to Bintan have consistently clocked an impressive annual growth of over 10%.
The offers which are currently being made also include investment opportunities in the recently build holiday villas within the resorts, said BRI’s marketing director Asad Shiraz.
At least one leading Indian hospitality group has considered investing in resort development in Bintan, Asad said.
Offers made to Indian investors are part of a larger global initiative. Property and land developers from Russia, China, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore have invested heavily in resort and hotel facilities operating on the island.
The most popular and viable entry into Bintan is from Singapore. Global tourists and businessmen fly to Singapore’s state-of-the-art Changi Airport and then travel to this exotic island. Bintan is barely a 45-minute ferry ride from Singapore. An upgraded international airport is also being built in the island that will be ready for use by 2017.
Bintan Lagoon to expand Indian footprint
Bintan Lagoon Resort, one of the holiday and corporate events’ operation on the island, is a massive facility sprawling 300 hectares with all the modern amenities in a traditional ambiance. It has hosted a number of Indian weddings in recent years and is also popular among honeymoon couples and expatriate families.
In the coming months it is planning to appoint a direct general sales agent in India and also set up an internet-based portal to woo Indian tourists, the company’s interim managing director Michael Sengol said.
Describing India as one of the largest markets for the resort, Sengol said India generates tourists in large numbers, especially during the Hindu wedding season. The marriage ceremonies, rituals and parties span over three days and nights. All facilities including accommodation, food and beverages are provided for an average gathering of more than 300 relatives, immediate family members and friends, he said.
“The composite wedding package is so tailored that it is able to meet every need one can think of,” Sengol said.
The Indian families also bring in their own master chefs and cooks to cater to the specific culinary needs during the weddings in line with the traditions that have been handed over from one generation to another for thousands of years. The wedding rituals and celebrations are held in the open on golf courses and all arrangements are planned by the resort well in advance, said Sengol.
