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SCMP Reporter

An international consortium led by Singapore's Keppel Land will launch a multi-million dollar golf and holiday resort in Yunnan province next week, despite a slump in the region's tourism market.

 Spring City Golf & Lake Resort - built along a swathe of 500 hectares at Yangzhonghai Lake, 48 kilometres outside Kunming - will open for business on January 1, Arthur Yeo Hui Kong, Keppel Land's assistant general manager for regional investments, said.

 The facility features an 18-hole championship golf course, designed by Jack Nicklaus and carved from the lake's hillside.

 Construction of a second 18-hole championship course, designed by Robert Trent Jones, Jr, began last summer and is expected to be completed by the end of next year.

 The two golf courses, along with a 49-room clubhouse resort, are part of the US$55 million first phase of a project that will eventually include the launch of the mainland's first Club Med holiday resort.

 Investment at the site is expected to reach $600 million over the next 15 years, Mr Yeo said.

 The project is a joint venture between an overseas consortium led by Keppel Land, which holds a 50-per cent stake in Spring City, and the local government of Yiliang County.

 Other shareholders include Singapore Government's Temasak Holdings, Indonesian property developer Salim Group, Hong Kong's Worldwide Shipping, and a group of independent Thai investors.

 Mr Yeo said construction of the project's $75 million second phase development, which includes a 200-room Club Med resort, will begin after the Lunar New Year.

 'Our short-term market is people in Southeast Asia and the drop-off in the economy will certainly affect us here,' he said.

  'But we will go ahead and open, because we believe the market is still there.'  He believed the site's climate - cool, dry weather - and quality would prove a winning combination unusual in Asia.

 Spring City's general manager G. Balachandran said the resort was readjusting its pricing strategy to be 'realistic', and hoped the situation would start to improve by the end of next year.

 'If the situation doesn't turn around we may continue with [discounted tariffs] or make a more attractive package. That remains to be determined.' 



Kunming resort tees off