Inside Asian Gaming

June 2014 inside asian gaming 15 started adding Four Seasons, City of Dreams, Galaxy, Sands Cotai Central, the critical mass just helped build the business out there. Everyone was scared of cannibalization every time a new property opened. You know, meetings in the war room and all that kind of carrying-on. It was really uncalled for. It was just solid organic growth. I think that’s what we’re going to have down here in Entertainment City when City of Dreams opens, and certainly when we open. Build it and they will come. It’s kind of like—and I don’t want to say that the business levels are the same as Macau— but it’s kind of like when they opened up the industry in Macau in 2002 and then Sands came in in 2004. Resorts World kicked off around the end of 2009, and they raised the bar for Manila and the Philippines. You go there now, having been to Singapore and Macau, and it’s not all that impressive a property. But it did what it was supposed to do. Like Sands did. But you walk into Sands now, and you kind of go, “This isn’t the best property in Macau anymore,” whereas it was for a couple of years. Solaire just opened, a very pretty property, but isolated and a little one-dimensional in terms of the offering there. It’s expanding now. It’s going to be a lot more well-rounded offering. Our chairman is putting a property together that is truly an integrated resort that’s going to stand shoulder to shoulder with anything in Asia or the world. He’s got 1,000 hotel rooms in Phase 1, a phenomenal portfolio, starts at 60 square meters—300 of the 1,000 rooms are at 60—then you go up into 100 square meters, then you’re into 200, 300, 450, 500, 600-square-meter suites in the tower. Then you’ve got the villas, which are over 1,000 square meters, 1,800 I think the biggest one is. An incredible portfolio of rooms. He’s got the dancing fountains, which is going to be an icon of the Philippines and Manila. We’ve got the domed Beach Club and Night Club, which no one has really done anywhere that I know of. Twenty-two restaurants at opening. He got a Michelin star in his first year at KO Dining in Hong Kong, so he knows food and beverage. We’re focused on that for the Asian customer. I don’t think it’s been done very well so far in Manila. So I think he’s going to nail food and beverage, and we’re going to work and focus very hard on that. I think we’re going to be the flagship of the area. It’s going to grow the domestic market. There are some infrastructure issues and some geopolitical issues that sort of have a bit of a cloud over things right now. But medium term, long term, there’s no question in my mind at all what’s going to happen. It’s really the short-term focus for us now, the business plan: how we’re going to execute, how we’re going to take more than our fair share. Infrastructure. You’ve mentioned it more than once, and of course it’s a big issue in Manila. How big in your view? When the road infrastructure is completed, when the NLEX [North Luzon Expressway] and SLEX [South Luzon Expressway] are joined together, you’ve got Quezon City up north a little bit, it’s two hours to drive to Entertainment City right now, two hours- plus probably; when you join the NLEX and the SLEX, and you’ve got the Skyway coming over from there into Entertainment City, it’s less than an hour. Something like 6 or 8 million people up there. Now if you’re two-plus hours away from going and playing some slots for two or three hours, that’s a long drive, because you’ve got to come back as well. If it’s an hour away, well, I can barrel down there every second weekend, you know? It might be twice a year now, could be a twice a month after those roads get fixed. “The Philippines in terms of a true destination has a reputation for having beautiful beaches and friendly people. Probably not for great cuisine or fantastic entertainment shows or top- end hotels. But that’s all going to change. I think that as that changes everyone’s perception of the Philippines as a destination also is going to change. Greatly for the positive.” “The numbers at Solaire have been encouraging. They’ve slowly built up. Slots look really good. Their slots are competing with Resorts World now. It’s taken a while. But they’re pretty much neck and neck. Tables have been a little more challenging. The high roller and junket segments have been quite volatile. So, you know, it’s really a topsy-turvy ride.” Cover Story