Chocolate factory, wellness festival, electric go-karts: New attractions to look forward to as Singapore reopens

Youths can look forward to new attractions and events in Singapore this year as our country gets ready to spruce up the tourism industry once again.

Among the new attractions are a new electric racing attraction in Sentosa, a chocolate factory in Dempsey and festivals, such as the Wellness Festival that will commence in June. 

Close to half a billion dollars were set aside for these recreational activities in order to ready Singapore for recreational tourism again. 

In doing so, Singapore aims to recapture pent-up travel demand and speed up the recovery of the tourism sector, even though it will take a few years for international travel to fully resume, said Minister of State for Trade and Industry Alvin Tan at the Tourism Industry Conference on Apr 6. 

The electric racing attraction will be called HyperDrive, and will feature a three-level race track that people can challenge using electric go-karts.

It is part of Shangri-La Group’s upcoming Palawan Sands initiative, a new lifestyle and entertainment precinct on Palawan Beach. Palawan Sands will also feature a new mini golf course.

The chocolate factory, launched by Mr Bucket Chocolaterie, will allow visitors to customise their own chocolate bars with ingredients sourced from around Asia. It is expected to start in the fourth quarter of this year, as reported by The Straits Times. 

Gardens by the Bay will also have its Cloud Forest transformed into an Avatar-themed universe sometime later this year when the movie Avatar 2 is released. In addition, Somerset will feature Trifecta, Asia’s very first integrated sports facility where visitors can skate, surf and snowboard, in 2023. 

A new 10-day Wellness Festival will also kick off in early June. The festival will offer wellness masterclasses and events such as a multisensory pop-up at Gardens by the Bay.

There will be plenty of wellness activities to choose from, as National Gallery Singapore will host its own wellness programmes and Sentosa will launch the Livewell Festival with wellness-themed events. 

By curating tourism events with a sustainability and wellness focus, Singapore aims to differentiate itself from other countries, said Singapore Tourism Board’s chief executive Keith Tan.