He also saw two to three groups of overseas students from China and Korea. "Our ground checks also suggest that tour groups do visit USS on a frequent basis, although we are unsure if USS markets directly to such groups and agencies," he adds.
While the Minion Land attraction was newly opened in February this year, Tay did not observe noticeable difference in crowd size for the rides, although there was a larger crowd for its minion-themed arcade games.
Meanwhile, RWS reopened its retail space, Weave (previously The Forum), on July 1, after closing it for redevelopment since May 2023. "During our visit, we note that less than half its tenants have started operations. We believe visitor volume to RWS will only pick up when other key attractions, such as the Singapore Oceanarium and The Laurus Hotel, open in 3Q2025 as we think the Weave acts as a complementary offering to other key attractions, instead of as a standalone attraction," says Tay.
Overall, Tay expects 2QFY2025 performance to hinge on gaming operations and believes GENS will see stronger 2HFY2025 profitability, benefiting from the opening of its new attractions from 3QFY2025.
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"We think investors should look past a potentially weaker q-o-q 2QFY2025 financial performance as SEA Aquarium was closed for operations to prepare for the opening of the larger Singapore Oceanarium, as well as seasonally weaker gaming operations contribution post-Chinese New Year festivities," he says, while noting that there is a lack of growth within the overall tourism industry in Singapore.
Shares in GENS traded at 74 cents at 10.47am.
