Greater Sentosa Masterplan and other upgrades for Singapore

• Sentosa Island is set to undergo a massive upgrade with new hotels, entertainment and nature trails attractions

• The master plan aims to integrate Sentosa and neighbouring Pulau Brani into an 'island playground'

• More tourist upgrades to the city include two new hotels and an upgrade of Orchard Road

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Greater Sentosa Masterplan - an artist's impression of how Siloso Beach may look

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Singapore’s Sentosa Island is set to undergo a massive upgrade, according to details released by Singapore Tourism Board this month. 

The Greater Sentosa Masterplan will see changes to Greater Sentosa, an area that includes Sentosa and the neighbouring island of Pulau Brani, currently an industrial area occupied primarily by Brani Port Terminal. The terminal is scheduled to relocate to Tuas Port by 2027. 

The plan aims to integrate the two islands to create a world-class leisure and tourist destination, envisaging the space as Singapore’s ‘island playground and sanctuary in a global city’. 

Space will be provided for new hotels, attractions and experiences. Sentosa’s "natural elements” will be preserved, with coastal and green nature trails and plans to restore natural habitats, while the industrial Brani island will be naturalised but with nods to its commercial heritage. The first phase of the development will kick-off with the construction of a transport hub linking Sentosa and Pulau Brani.

The masterplan will take decades to complete and construction is anticipated to run until 2045. However, certain planned attractions will open ahead of that date.

Following a record number of tourists last year, Singapore is now injecting an additional S$740 million into tourism development, with a raft of other improvement plans in the pipeline. They include a new look for Orchard Road, launching later this year and featuring artwork installations, artistic building facades and nighttime initiatives like illumination projections, night markets, extended opening hours and new pop-up spaces. 

A hotel concept will be developed alongside lifestyle experiences, community and public spaces at the heritage 37 Emerald Hill, the site of the former Singapore Chinese Girls’ School. Another hotel, Asia Pacific’s first NoMad luxury lifestyle hotel under Hilton in the heart of Orchard Road, is set to open later this year, along with a curated selection of dining options.

And in July, Singapore Cruise Centre at HarbourFront will relocate to a new purpose-built facility with dedicated VIP lounge and automated baggage handling system.