When Andrew Dixon moved from Australia to Singapore in 1998, he began exploring the nearby Indonesian islands of the Riau Archipelago, which reminded him of the simple coastal holidays of his childhood.
In 2001, Dixon and friends visited Nikoi, a tiny 15-hectare island eight kilometres off the east coast of Bintan. They secured the leasehold in 2004 and started building the following year. Nikoi Private Island opened to paying guests in 2007, turning Dixon into what he has since described as an "accidental hotelier". A decade later came an adults-only sister property, Cempedak, on another private island off Bintan.
Almost three decades after Dixon began his explorations into tourism, Bintan Island and its surrounds constitute a major hub for luxury island holidays. The article notes that major players in the international hotel industry are now moving in. Long known to Singaporeans as a weekend getaway, the island may soon attract travelers from further afield as a South-East Asian add-on to a Singapore stopover.