Marina Bay Sands Unveils Six Celebrity Chef Restaurants

Six internationally recognized, award-winning celebrity chefs are lined
up to create culinary magic at Marina Bay Sands with their first restaurants in Singapore, elevating the
Republic’s dining scene to the global stage.
These world-renowned chefs represent the Who’s Who in the culinary world today – Mario Batali (New
York), Daniel Boulud (New York), Wolfgang Puck (Los Angeles), Santi Santamaria (Barcelona), Guy
Savoy (Paris) and Tetsuya Wakuda (Sydney).
The celebrated chefs will draw inspiration from the kitchens of their own restaurants in Spain, France,
Australia and the United States, while creating menus that incorporate regional products and local
produce. Nestled on the mezzanine level of the casino, the restaurants of chefs Santi Santamaria, Guy
Savoy and Tetsuya Wakuda will offer a refined, sophisticated dining experience based upon their
individual culinary styles that have been honed for years.
Culinary giants Mario Batali, Daniel Boulud and Wolfgang Puck will launch their hugely successful,
highly regarded signature restaurants that will single-handedly elevate Singapore’s culinary scene
overnight. These restaurants are situated near Marina Bay Sands Theatres.
“Singapore will become the culinary epicenter of Asia. The quality of these six chefs will make Marina
Bay Sands a dining experience that is beyond comparison,” said Mr. Thomas Arasi, CEO and President
of Marina Bay Sands.
Each of the six chefs is personally involved in the concepts, menus, and interior design of the six
different restaurants. Each chef will bring to Singapore experienced members from his own restaurant
and will develop a new generation of local chefs as they work alongside the industry’s best.
“The quality of the these renowned chefs, coupled with their artistry and international standing, will put
Singapore on the world gourmet map as we celebrate glorious food and great wine in one of the most
spectacular settings at Marina Bay Sands,” said Mr. Arasi.
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In addition to the six celebrity chef restaurants which are finalizing details of their operations here,
Marina Bay Sands will run several other signature restaurants that will be unveiled in the coming months.
When completed, Marina Bay Sands will feature large and flexible convention and exhibition facilities,
approximately 2,500 luxury hotel rooms, the breathtaking rooftop Sands SkyPark, a museum, Las Vegasstyle
gaming, the Paiza Club for premium players, theatres, entertainment, an outdoor event plaza, and
unparalleled shopping and dining.
What the chefs say:
“We hope to bring our unique take on both traditional and modern Italian culture, lifestyle and cooking
to the heart of the most important city in Asia and we look forward to learning much from the locals
about their fascinating culture and food. This is, without a doubt, the most exciting project I have ever
been involved with and I look forward to many years of collaboration.” – Chef Mario Batali
“I've had the privilege of traveling to Singapore and enjoyed some incredible meals by local chefs. It’s a
superb city where I discovered a culture with a love of food from every corner of the world. Singapore is
a wonderful place for me to create a restaurant in partnership with Las Vegas Sands and the
international community of chefs they are bringing together. The Marina Bay Sands will be a great
addition to a place that is already a dining destination.” – Chef Daniel Boulud
“It’s an honor to open my first restaurant in Singapore, in the city’s most memorable and iconic
location. We are eager to create an unforgettable dining experience with the launch of CUT, our first
overseas version of the American steakhouse. With its modern menu, we’re offering something new and
exciting to local residents and visitors.” – Chef Wolfgang Puck
“Through poetry, human beings express the most profound reasoning of our beings. To experience the
world, we need to travel with our minds open, free from baggage. As chefs, we ask ourselves if there’s
such a thing as culinary poetry. We hope that together, we can find it. I want to delight the senses and
awaken emotional memories with a cuisine of wisdom.”
– Chef Santi Santamaria
“Cuisine is the art of instantaneously turning produce suffused with history into happiness.”
– Chef Guy Savoy
“I am delighted to be opening at Marina Bay Sands, to bring the flavour of my Sydney restaurant to
Singapore’s vibrant and international community.”
- Chef Tetsuya Wakuda

Cathay Pacific's 2010 Earlybird Fares Start from $2099

Cathay Pacific Airways is offering Earlybird fares for 2010 to more than 100 destinations in the United Kingdom and Europe, which start from $2099 for return economy class travel, plus applicable Government/Airport taxes/charges.

The Earlybird fares are available for travel from Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch to London, Paris, Amsterdam, Frankfurt and Rome - for departures from January 1 to June 30 and from September 1 to November 30, 2010.  Special add-on airfares are available from other domestic New Zealand airports.

Cathay Pacific is also offering a wide variety of stopover options via its European gateways. For instance, a passenger travelling on a return fare to Venice can travel via London in one direction and Rome on the return sector, thereby enjoying three destinations in Europe.

Passengers may also stop over in Hong Kong, Sydney, Brisbane or Melbourne for no additional airfare. Or for an additional $176 plus tax, passengers can include one of 38 different destinations across Asia/China from Singapore or Bali in the south to Beijing or Sapporo in the north on their ticket.

For an extra $200 (plus taxes), passengers can now choose to travel through Nadi, Fiji (in one direction), thanks to the introduction of Cathay Pacific’s new twice weekly codeshare service with Air Pacific, which launches on December 3, 2009.

Travellers who are planning to travel overseas next year and who are reluctant to purchase Earlybird fares in the hope that fares come down even further, can rest assured that they will receive the best price offer, with the reintroduction of Cathay Pacific’s popular Earlybird Airfare Guarantee. The Earlybird Airfare Guarantee offers passengers a refund of any fare difference should Cathay Pacific’s fares drop below the Earlybird price.

Making the deal even sweeter, passengers purchasing Cathay Pacific Earlybird fares will be able to experience a new standard of Economy Class with all Cathay Pacific longhaul aircraft now refurbished with the airline’s innovative, new Economy Class seats.  Cathay Pacific was awarded the Airline of the Year 2009 award by Skytrax, the world’s largest passenger survey.

Cathay Pacific’s Earlybird fares are available for sales through to 15 December.  The fares do not include Government and airport taxes which vary widely according to the routing of the ticket and stopovers taken. The taxes on a simple itinerary to Rome will be approximately $78 whereas to London will be approximately $200.

Tourism expenditure encouraging

New figures released which show tourism expenditure increased by 1.1% to $21.7 billion in the year ended March 2009 are encouraging news for the industry and New Zealand, says Tourism Industry Association (TIA) Chief Executive Tim Cossar.

The Tourism Satellite Account (TSA): 2009, published by Statistics New Zealand, shows that the overall increase in expenditure was driven by Kiwi holidaymakers spending more at home, with domestic expenditure in the year ending March 09 up 2.6% to $12.4 billion on the previous year.

“The domestic market was stronger than many had been expecting, given that New Zealand was in recession, and highlights its importance to the industry in terms of diversifying risk.”

International visitor expenditure fell by 0.9% ($87 million) in the year ending March 09 to $9.3 billion. “The relatively small size of that decrease shows the resilience of the tourism industry in what has been one of its toughest trading environments in decades, with many of our major international markets suffering dramatically from the world economic downturn,” says Mr Cossar. 

He adds the impact of the global recession was softened by the excellent growth in arrivals out of Australia, New Zealand’s largest international visitor market.

The TSA also reinforces that tourism is one of New Zealand’s most important industries, accounting for 16.4% of exports, and directly employing 4.9% of full-time equivalent employees, an increase of 0.4% from the previous year.

Mr Cossar cautions however, that while some tourism operators are performing very well, others are still struggling from a big decrease in demand.

“This is an immensely diverse industry, in terms of both the size and types of operators. While overall these expenditure figures are good news, it is certainly still a very challenging time for many.

“The trend towards much shorter booking times makes it difficult to forecast summer performance with any degree of accuracy. The high New Zealand dollar is probably the biggest short term factor affecting the industry, with the potential to impact negatively on people’s decision to travel here, and to restrict spending for those who do come.”

However, he says this may be balanced out by a high Australian dollar, and continuing strong growth out of that market, 40% of inbound arrivals and growing.