Inside Asian Gaming

inside asian gaming March 2015 18 something [similar] here.” The 365-room Hyatt and 321-room Nobu hotels opened progressively from December were nearly complete by the grand opening. A third 254-key hotel tower, Crown Towers, catering to high rollers officially opened for guests on 1st February, with just some of its 173 rooms, 73 suites and seven villas available. VIP gaming began on grand opening day, with about 69 tables—25 in the main VIP area on the second floor, the rest in private rooms and the Sky Suite area atop Crown Towers. Melco Crown says it will have 90 VIP tables in operation by the end of March. MACAU LINKS Melco Crown executives at the grand opening spoke about bringing in high rollers through their corporate web extending from Macau to Australia, home to Co-Chairman James Packer’s Crown Resorts. “With our connections in Macau—of the four licensees, we’re the only one with a direct connection in Macau—we have a strong foothold to bring in additional customers from overseas,” Mr Chung said. A desire to stimulate visitor arrivals was a key factor behind the government’s support of the Entertainment City initiative, allowing Pagcor (Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation), the government-owned regulator cum operator, to license four integrated resorts. “One of the reasons for building premium resorts has been to bring in players from China. That’s part of the premise,” Pagcor Vice President for Regulation and Business Development Francis Hernando said. A Macau operator running an Entertainment City resort gives Manila a pipeline to Macau junkets. And having the Ho family name prominently associated with the project may help overcome Chinese resistance to visiting the Philippines stemming from ongoing territorial disputes between the Philippines and China and lingering concerns over safety. But City of Dreams Manila hasn’t launched its VIP program as aggressively as many expected. In its analysis of Melco Crown earnings last month, Union Gaming Research Macau forecast a “long-tailed” ramp up for the property with 2015 EBITDA of $128 million on revenue of $414 million, a 31% margin. Some observers were surprised that VIP wasn’t part of the mix during the preview period. The projected 90 VIP tables are half as many as Solaire has in its expanded VIP area, and fewer than Resorts World Manila. CoD Manila has authorization from Pagcor for about 380 gaming tables, so can add some 70 tables as well as hundreds of additional electronic-gaming-terminal positions. “Solaire’s VIP area is like a football field; the City of Dreams Manila VIP room layout is not as expansive as you would expect,” Mr Hernando observed. “I would like to think in three-to-six months, we’ll have a better picture of how it will play out.” A gaming executive with extensive experience in Southeast Asian markets expressed surprise about CoD Manila’s lack of Feature There are 170 gaming tables and 1,700 machines on a two-level main gaming floor. The resort’s architecturally prominent Fortune Egg Dome houses two global nightclub brands, ultra-lounge Pangaea, also found at Singapore’s Marina Bay Sands, and nightclub Chaos. Having the Ho family name prominently associated with the project may help overcome Chinese resistance to visiting the Philippines stemming from ongoing territorial disputes between the Philippines and China and lingering concerns over safety.