Behind IRs' shutdowns, teams work feverishly to prepare for reopening

Singapore

THIS was surely not the way Singapore's integrated resorts (IRs) - Marina Bay Sands (MBS) and Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) - had originally wanted to mark their 10th anniversary of operations in Singapore.

2020 was envisioned to be a year of much fanfare and celebration at two of the country's largest employers, but the Covid-19 outbreak - which escalated in February and was declared a global pandemic in March - quickly threw those plans out the window.

The IRs, which have operated around the clock since their opening back in 2010, shut their doors on April 7, the day Singapore launched the circuit breaker to stem the spread of the coronavirus.

Every aspect of their business - the casinos, hotels, shops, restaurants, nightclubs, theatres, lounges and bars - remain closed.

The circuit breaker formally ended on June 1, with Singapore now in the first of three phases to gradually ease measures and restart the battered economy.

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The IRs - both of which have the SG Clean quality mark by the National Environment Agency - have confirmed they will remain closed for the duration of Phase 1, which is expected to last until the end of June.

In separate interviews with The Business Times, MBS and RWS share what they have been up to during the unplanned downtime, and how they are busy gearing up for the eventual reopening in a tourism and hospitality industry that has undergone disruption of an unprecedented scale.

Marina Bay Sands

Joggers and cyclists continue to throng the boardwalk at MBS throughout the day for their exercise fix, but peek inside the massive glass windows of the building and there is hardly any sign of life, except for some security staff making their rounds. All the stores and restaurants are closed, and most of the lights are turned off.

Only Da Paolo Gastronomia - a small outdoor restaurant located at one end of the boardwalk, near the ArtScience Museum - is open for takeaway; patrons there pop in and out with coffee and pastries.

An MBS spokesperson said that since the Covid-19 pandemic began, the IR has been exploring ways to boost business resiliency and enhance public health.

"This means going back to the drawing board to throw out old assumptions, redesigning existing work processes and customer experiences, introducing new roles and gearing up to harness technologies," the spokesperson said.

"The aim is to reopen with a fresh suite of experiences and safeguards in place to give our visitors greater assurance when they return."

A total of 40 task forces have been set up to generate fresh ideas and solutions for a post-Covid era of travel, dining and meetings.

One group is in charge of designing masks and goggles that are suitable for employees who need to interact with guests and visitors.

Everything, including the type of fabric, the protection level, durability and even the colours to suit different uniforms, is being reviewed and tested before these items go into production.

The taskforce in charge of food and beverage, meanwhile, is rewriting the conventional buffet experience by converting all self-service to table-side service, in an effort to minimise crowds at the buffet counters.

"Beyond contactless payment, we are looking at using technology and apps to facilitate digital check-ins, deploying smart control of hotel room appliances, and to replace the need for physical tickets for our venues and attractions," the spokesperson said.

The MBS hotel has over 2,500 rooms spread across three towers; strict measures are in place to ensure a high level of cleanliness and hygiene.

Thousands of key cards must be sanitised before they are re-used, and staff will use hospital-grade disinfectants to clean the rooms, especially high-touch items such as TV remote controls and light switches.

When guests check in, they will receive wellness amenity kits that contain hand sanitiser, disinfecting wipes, gloves and a surgical mask. All rooms will be taken offline in the system for one day after each check-out, for a thorough disinfection.

Even though it will be some time before large-scale events can be staged in the halls of the Sands Expo and Convention Centre, the MBS sales teams remain in constant dialogue with clients to understand their concerns.

"Events of the future will take on a very different approach," the spokesperson said, adding that venue operators have to re-imagine and re-design meeting experiences and F&B set-ups," the spokesperson said.

"New hybrid-event formats - combining physical events and virtual meetings - will emerge and venue operators need to show their expertise in both realms."

As with the other parts of the property, the convention centre is looking at introducing technology for pre-event registration to minimise physical contact and queues. Automated self-cleaning handrail systems will also be installed at the escalators.

While the bulk of the IR's 10,400 staff - or team members, as they are called - are staying home for now, about 1,000 of them are deployed in staggered shifts to maintain the cleanliness and safety of the property.

All staff have access to mobile-enabled online training modules during this period, and some have attended courses related to hotel and F&B operations. They are required to pass these online assessments before they return to work.

"Our priority is to ensure that our workforce is well-informed on new standards of operations and safe management measures before we reopen the IR," the spokesperson said.

Resorts World Sentosa

When the new community care facility (CCF) at the Singapore Expo and Max Atria needed a managing agent, RWS in April volunteered for the task - and on a pro bono basis, too.

In a matter of days - between April 5 when the CCF was first announced by the government, to April 10 when the first Covid-19 patients arrived - RWS set up the necessary systems and deployed teams of volunteers on site.

Since then, some 2,100 staff volunteers from the IR have been hard at work at the venue's 10 halls, which has some 8,000 beds. There is a 24-hour operations command centre at the CCF for incident and event tracking, surveillance and a call centre to see to the needs of patients.

"Our volunteers are highly experienced in managing integrated resort operations to serve our guests every day," said Michelle Choo, the assistant vice-president of attractions at RWS.

"Now they have effectively brought their skills to provide non-medical care for residents ranging from housekeeping, meals preparation, patient engagement, admission and discharge."

Over at the IR on Sentosa island, there is a quiet calm these days. The popular Universal Studios Singapore (USS) theme park - which typically draws thousands of visitors each day - is closed.

Also shuttered are the S.E.A aquarium, Adventure Cove Waterpark, restaurants, shops and hotels. Just one establishment - Malaysian Food Street, which sells hawker fare - remains open daily for self-pickup and delivery.

But behind the scenes, a lean team is busy maintaining the facilities and infrastructure at the resort, said a spokesperson.

"As essential workers, their roles are diverse and necessary, ranging from security, transport, IT support, care for our marine animals, cleaning and maintenance.

"Working in shifts, they ensure the IR is kept clean and in prime condition, ready to welcome guests when we reopen," he said.

Each week, a team of engineers conducts preventive maintenance works and safety checks at USS, including deploying the attraction's rides on test-runs.

At the aquarium, the 100,000 marine animals there continue to receive care by aquarists who work daily in different shifts. Besides feeding the marine life, they also vacuum the tanks and clean the giant viewing panels.

Even before the circuit breaker started, the spokesman said RWS took steps to increase by seven-fold the frequency of deep cleaning and disinfection across the IR.

Over at the casino, safe distancing will continue to be strictly enforced when it reopens, with no more than one person per 16 square metres of usable space. Groups of more than 10 will not be allowed entry.

Buffets and in-room dining at the hotels were stopped and replaced with table dining. When dining-in is eventually allowed to resume, tables at restaurants will continue to be spaced at least one metre apart.

At the staff cafeterias, there are 80cm-high protective acrylic shields being installed as an added layer of protection for the more than 9,000 team members who dine there.

"When we resume operations, we will further boost health and safety protocols to ensure a safe environment for our team members and guests," the spokesperson said.