Inside Asian Gaming

INSIDE ASIAN GAMING | October 2009 24 Philippines G enting Group, the leading Malaysian conglomerate specialising in gaming and leisure, says it is still committed to building casino and hotel facilities at Manila Bay in the Philippines. Earlier this year, Inside Asian Gaming reported that a plan discussed in the Philippines media in 2008 for Genting to open a major resort at Manila Bay, including a Universal Studios theme park, had been dropped. Privately, Genting executives told IAG at the time and later that the plans had never been as advanced as suggested in some sections of the local press. A senior source within the Group has now told IAG there will still be a Manila Bay project, but not on the scale suggested in the local media in 2008. The source said no agreement had been signed yet, but that Star Cruises is the only tender for the Manila Bay project. The spokesman said the Manila Bay project would be ‘phase two’ of the Group’s plan for Metro Manila. It will consist of 37 hectares (91 acres) of land for the development of over 3,000 hotel rooms to add to the more than 1,300 rooms on offer at Resorts World Manila. Joint venture The Manila Bay project will be a 50:50 joint venture between Star Cruises and Alliance Global Group, the conglomerate headed by Philippines entrepreneur Andrew Tan. This is the same partnership used to develop Resorts World Manila at Newport City near Manila’s international airport. That first scheme, a US$700 million venture featuring a casino and three branded hotels, is run by a JV company called Travellers International Hotel Group Inc. The facility had its soft opening, for one floor of the casino, on 28th August. Resorts World Manila and the Manila Bay project will both be aimed not only at local mass-market players but also mid-market high rollers (in terms of check-in money) from the domestic market and overseas who are seeking elite-level VIP facilities and service. The source says the new facility at Full Steam Ahead Genting source confirms Star Cruises will manage a second gaming resort in Manila Ribbon cutting at the opening of Resorts World Manila in August