Airports have, of course, long brought us to our destinations. But, I don't know that they've ever been the destinations, in and of themselves.
Until now.
Enter Jewel Changi Airport in Singapore, opening just weeks ago. News of it sweeps the world, even as we speak.
Well, perhaps there are other airports which are destinations in and of themselves, and word of them just hasn't reached my ears. Still, what Singapore is doing is an example to the world, and it will likely be emulated and copied and duplicated, as soon other cities will create their own tourist sites right within their airports.
Good ideas are like fire, they spread.
So, make your airport so it does not just help you reach your destination, but it is the destination. Make your airport so grand that it, itself, becomes the tourist attraction.
Such is Jewel Changi Airport. The world's tallest indoor waterfall. A sports store to attract ultra-performance athletes and sporting enthusiasts, where they come to test and experience innovative equipment before they purchase it. A glass-bottomed walking bridge. Mirror mazes. A 130-room hotel and 280 shops, restaurants and bars. An events plaza capable of holding 1,000 people at a time. Two hundred species of plants.
Jewel Changi Airport -- where the airport becomes the city, and where the future of airports becomes the present.
I read how Singapore is the fifth most visited city in the world, and wonder if, with this, it will climb even higher.
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