• Subscribe
  • Magazines
  • About
  • Contact
  • Advertise
Thursday 10 July 2025
  • zh-hant 中文
  • ja 日本語
  • en English
IAG
Advertisement
  • Newsfeed
  • Mag Articles
  • Video
  • Opinion
  • Tags
  • Regional
    • Africa
    • Australia
    • Cambodia
    • China
    • CNMI
    • Europe
    • Hong Kong
    • India
    • Japan
    • Laos
    • Latin America
    • Malaysia
    • Macau
    • Nepal
    • New Zealand
    • North America
    • North Korea
    • Philippines
    • Russia
    • Singapore
    • South Korea
    • Sri Lanka
    • Thailand
    • UAE
    • Vietnam
  • Events
  • Contributors
  • SUBSCRIBE FREE
No Result
View All Result
IAG
  • Newsfeed
  • Mag Articles
  • Video
  • Opinion
  • Tags
  • Regional
    • Africa
    • Australia
    • Cambodia
    • China
    • CNMI
    • Europe
    • Hong Kong
    • India
    • Japan
    • Laos
    • Latin America
    • Malaysia
    • Macau
    • Nepal
    • New Zealand
    • North America
    • North Korea
    • Philippines
    • Russia
    • Singapore
    • South Korea
    • Sri Lanka
    • Thailand
    • UAE
    • Vietnam
  • Events
  • Contributors
  • SUBSCRIBE FREE
No Result
View All Result
IAG
No Result
View All Result

Manila Envelope

Newsdesk by Newsdesk
Tue 14 Apr 2009 at 16:00
5
SHARES
119
VIEWS
Print Friendly, PDF & Email

The Philippines is busy building the first of two casino resorts—but will tourists come?

‘Build it and they will come’ was more or less the mantra of Las Vegas Sands Corp. in Macau. They did, but ‘they’ didn’t—or at least not in enough numbers and not quite quickly enough to keep nervous bankers happy. To be fair to LVS, the company had a once in a lifetime run of bad luck with world economics, compounded by some microeconomic and political issues unique to China.

So if Macau is struggling to find success with the brave new world of Asian integrated resort gaming in the present global downturn, what are the chances of a secondary market such as the Philippines making a success of it?

Broadly speaking, the plan of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor), the government-owned gaming operator-cum-regulator, is to marry the market experience, relative liquidity and local fundraising skills of domestic real estate developers with the operational and equipment manufacturing expertise of foreign gaming companies by building two integrated gaming resorts in Manila.

Making plans

Part of the difficulty for outside investors and analysts in assessing the medium to long-term prospects of these schemes is that the details appear to change on an almost daily basis. Even the names of the projects vary depending on to whom you talk.

The scheme that’s already well under way—Newport City, near Manila’s international airport—has been touted by the country’s president and central government as an economic regeneration project. Nowhere on Newport City’s website however will visitors find the word ‘casino’. There’s lots of talk about hotels, an ‘entertainment complex’, a ‘sports complex’ and a golf course, but the ‘c’ word is notable by its absence. In the Philippines it appears that gaming is often a product that dare not speak its name for fear of offending opponents. This is in stark contrast to Macau where gaming is at the heart of the economy.

Newport City (also sometimes referred to as Newport Entertainment City) covers a 25-hectare site in the Pasay City district of Metro Manila within sight of the international airport. Building work on the gaming resort portion (about eight hectares) is already well under way and that part of the scheme is touted for completion this year. Inside Asian Gaming understands it will have a casino (though the precise branding of the casino is yet to be confirmed officially) as well as a Marriott Hotel (understood to be the first Marriott-branded property in Metro Manila) and a suites-only Maxims Hotel—a Genting branded product.

The second gaming resort project is a more ambitious 40-hectare site on reclaimed land at Manila Bay near to the SMX Convention Center. This site has been referred to at various times in various ways as: Bagong Nayong Pilipino—Manila Bay Integrated City; Bagong Nayong Pilipino—Entertainment City Manila; Pagcor City and just plain ‘Manila Bay’. What does seem clear is that it will have a casino resort under the branding ‘Okada Resort Manila’ or possibly ‘Okada Resort Manila Bay’, in recognition of Kazuo Okada, founder and chairman of ARUZE Corp., which has confirmed it will be the gaming partner for the second scheme.

Funding is still being finalised for the second scheme, says one of the partners, SM Investments Corporation, the holding company of the Philippines-based SM Group, although no clear guidance has so far been given to the media on the budget. In September last year, a figure of US$1.1 billion was mentioned in the local media in relation to development of an area referred to as ‘Manila Bayshore’, a zone that forms part of the Manila Bay regeneration area. It seems reasonable to assume that this budget may well have been revised downward in the wake of the global credit crisis that gripped financial markets soon afterwards.

SM Group’s parent company was publicly listed in 2005 and is now one of the Philippines’ biggest conglomerates, occupying a leading position in shopping malls, retailing, banking, finance and property.

The success of both Manila schemes may depend on how much the two business models rely on foreign visitors and how much on home-grown customers. Those numbers will in turn be influenced by what happens in the regional economy.

RelatedPosts

PhilWeb falls to US$10.5 million loss in FY24 on asset impairments

Century Entertainment signs joint venture agreement to develop gaming system platforms for Asia-Pacific markets

Thu 10 Jul 2025 at 06:22
Macau GGR hits new post-pandemic high of MOP$20.8 billion in October

Citi: Macau industry EBITDA likely to have grown by 3% in 2Q25

Thu 10 Jul 2025 at 05:46
Thailand’s casino bill officially on hold after House votes to remove it from agenda

Thailand’s casino bill officially on hold after House votes to remove it from agenda

Thu 10 Jul 2025 at 05:42
Macau government says ratio of local staff employed by concessionaires in middle and senior positions now at 90%

Macau government says ratio of local staff employed by concessionaires in middle and senior positions now at 90%

Wed 9 Jul 2025 at 19:46
Load More
Page 1 of 5
12...5Next
Share2Share
Newsdesk

Newsdesk

The IAG Newsdesk team comprises some of the most experienced journalists in the Asian gaming industry. Offering a broad range of expertise, their decades of combined know-how spans multiple countries across a variety of topics.

Current Issue

Editorial – An inconvenient truth

Editorial – An inconvenient truth

by Ben Blaschke
Fri 27 Jun 2025 at 15:21

It’s understandable that political observers, academics and members of the public in greenfield jurisdictions would express caution around the legalization...

Light & Wonder’s Siobhan Lane

Light & Wonder’s Siobhan Lane

by Ben Blaschke
Fri 27 Jun 2025 at 15:19

Siobhan Lane, Light & Wonder’s highly experienced CEO of Gaming, speaks to Inside Asian Gaming about the company’s ongoing transformation...

Honesty is the best policy

Honesty is the best policy

by Ben Blaschke
Fri 27 Jun 2025 at 14:13

The Thailand Entertainment Complex Roundtable brought industry stakeholders, politicians and supporters of the government’s Entertainment Complex Bill face to face...

Sri Lanka’s casino industry

Sri Lanka’s casino industry

by Shaun McCamley
Fri 27 Jun 2025 at 13:36

Industry veteran Shaun McCamley delves into the complex history of Sri Lanka’s casino industry at a time when the country...

Evolution Asia
Your browser does not support HTML5 video.
Aristocrat
GLI
Nustar
SABA
Mindslot
Solaire
Hann
Tecnet
NWR
Jumbo
568Win

Related Posts

Light & Wonder’s Siobhan Lane

Light & Wonder’s Siobhan Lane

by Ben Blaschke
Fri 27 Jun 2025 at 15:19

Siobhan Lane, Light & Wonder’s highly experienced CEO of Gaming, speaks to Inside Asian Gaming about the company’s ongoing transformation into a content powerhouse and reveals where Asia fits into the journey. Ben Blaschke: Thanks for speaking with IAG, Siobhan....

Behind the curtain

Behind the curtain

by Newsdesk
Fri 27 Jun 2025 at 12:40

Hospitality logistics firm BCI Worldwide has firmly established its presence in Macau, playing a part in some of the city’s most iconic integrated resort development projects. Macau, the “Las Vegas of Asia”, is a city synonymous with opulent resorts, world-class...

Of fortune or misfortune

Of fortune or misfortune

by Pierce Chan
Fri 27 Jun 2025 at 12:32

At the beginning of June, the Macau government announced that all 11 of the city’s satellite casinos would be shut down this year. The sudden news shocked the community and has led many to question whether the complete closure of...

10 years ago – Tricky balance

10 years ago – Tricky balance

by Ben Blaschke
Fri 27 Jun 2025 at 12:17

In this regular feature in IAG to celebrate 20 years covering the Asian gaming and leisure industry, we look back at our cover story from exactly 10 years ago, “Tricky balance”, to rediscover what was making the news in July...



IAG

© 2005-2024
Inside Asian Gaming.
All rights reserved.

  • SUBSCRIBE FREE
  • NEWSFEED
  • MAG ARTICLES
  • VIDEO
  • OPINION
  • TAGS
  • REGIONAL
  • EVENTS
  • CONSULTING
  • CONTRIBUTORS
  • MAGAZINES
  • ABOUT
  • CONTACT
  • ADVERTISE

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

Add New Playlist

No Result
View All Result
  • Subscribe
  • Newsfeed
  • Mag Articles
  • Video
  • Opinion
  • Tags
  • Regional
  • Events
  • Contributors
  • Magazines
  • Advertise
  • Contact
  • About
  • Home for G2E Asia

© 2005-2024
Inside Asian Gaming.
All rights reserved.

  • English