After making an explosive entry to Asia’s burgeoning online gaming market Salon International is now poised to broaden its offering to high net worth gamblers in the region by developing an expansive beachfront casino resort—all under the watchful eye of its chairman, Leung Chi Kuong
From a US$5.6 million temporary casino facility it set up in the Cagayan Special Economic Zone Authority (CEZA) in Northern Luzon, the Philippines, Salon International has rapidly built one of the most successful online gaming operations in Asia. CEZA was set up as a freeport by the Philippine Government in 1995, and is Asia’s first and so far only issuer of internationally recognised licences for companies providing online offshore gaming content and services.
Salon kicked off its online gaming and proxy phone betting operations in mid-September last year. Within three months, it had generated combined gaming turnover of US$10 billion, gross revenue of US$180 million and EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) of over US$15 million. By November, Salon’s total internet betting turnover had surpassed US$3 billion per month, while phone betting turnover exceeded US$1 billion per month, and the business looks set to continue ramping up. High-rollers constitute the bulk of Salon’s customers. Salon has around 500 active players on any given day, who place over 24 million bets per month. The average bet for online betting is around US$140, and the average expenditure per active player per month is around US$85,000.
Licensed to thrill
Salon has been granted three distinct 25-year licenses by the Philippine Government, allowing it to engage in online gaming, phone betting and land-based casino activities—as far as Mr Leung is aware, no other gaming company in Asia is currently licensed to operate in all three areas.
Salon plans to pursue its land-based ambitions through a new resort, construction of which is expected to commence in the second half of this year. Mr Leung has recruited several seasoned resort development veterans to work on his new resort, which will also be located in Cagayan province, within the Cabo Engano development zone. Cabo Engano is a master planned area where space has been allotted for five future land-based casino resorts. Whereas the other resorts have been primarily assigned mountainside locations, Salon’s resort will sit on 20 hectares of pristine beachfront, surrounded by a lush tropical rainforest and paddy fields. The Cabo Engano tourism resort estate is scheduled for completion by 2014, and will also encompass a town centre (with shopping, dining and entertainment), leisure communities and eco-tourism facilities.
Salon’s integrated resort will offer both traditional and online gaming to mass-market and VIP customers. The resort will feature a 5-star hotel with associated fine dining and recreational activities catering to customers from across Asia.
Salon will also develop around 160 high-end residential bungalows in the first phase of the resort’s development and offer these to its key casino customers and strategic partners. These bungalows will boast ocean frontage with views of the Pacific Ocean.
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