Inside Asian Gaming

inside asian gaming January 2015 18 Cover Story The gold-sheathed structure features a two-story base with six 10-story towers clustered in pairs along its periphery, plus the dome called the Fortune Egg that will house the nightclubs. The roof of the base has hotel swimming pools and will feature dining. Each hotel occupies a pair of towers and has its own lobby at ground level. “I do like the access,” Tiger Resort Deputy Chief Financial Officer Laurence Hawke says. “It’s easy to drive up to the casino entrance or the hotel entrances and be a few steps from the casino.” Tiger, controlled by Japanese pachinko tycoon Kazuo Okada, is developing the $2 billion Manila Bay Resorts at Entertainment City, aiming for its own soft opening late this year. Mr Hawke also likes the Center Stage Bar as a focal point for the mass floor: “The Philippine market needs some entertainment.” Pagcor Vice President for Licensing and Development Francis Hernando says the regulator’s board members making their walk through inspection found the result “pleasantly surprising” given the challenge. “How they could turn that structure into something that relates to the Melco Crown brand is impressive.” Mr Hernando said the opening details were left to Melco Crown, but the operator had initiated the process to begin casino operations months ago, eyeing a debut date as early as October. “At that point, rather than Pagcor getting caught up in business judgments, we agreed we’d work on a permit valid to open by 31st December,” Mr Hernando explains. “We’re leaving the sequencing to them” regarding VIP operations, hotels openings and other project elements, he adds. “We’ll give them slack until Chinese New Year.” Melco Crown has said the property’s grand opening will take place ahead of the holiday falling on 19th February this year. MASSING IN MANILA Other Manila operators enthusiastically welcome their new rival to town. “The opening of City of Dreams should expand the market. They’ll be bringing in a whole new set of players,” Travellers Manila Bay’s Entertainment City Area With two resorts plus other attractions in the Manila Bay area, including Mall of Asia, its adjacent 16,000-seat indoor arena and a nearby convention center, it’s time to “weave the elements into a destination,” Pagcor Vice President for Licensing and Development Francis Hernando says. International Hotel Group Chief of Corporate Planning Patricia May Siy says. A joint venture of Genting Hong Kong and Philippine billionaire Andrew Tan’s Alliance Global Group, Travellers owns Resorts World Manila near Terminal 3 of Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport, currently undergoing significant expansion, and has broken ground on Bayshore City Resorts World in Entertainment City, expected to open in late 2018. “The Philippines is gaining ground as an alternative to Macau,” she says. “The more here, then critical mass sets in, the more business for everyone,” Tiger’s Mr Hawke says. “We’re good compliments for each other as we all look to grow Entertainment City,” Solaire President and Chief Operating Officer Thomas Arasi says. “The attractions are very different,” Mr Hernando says of Solaire and City of Dreams Manila, about one kilometer apart along ASEAN Avenue, which public- and private-sector planners hope to develop into Manila’s version of the Vegas Strip. Solaire has a Broadway-style theater but no nightclubs; City of Dreams will have two world-class clubs but no theater. “There seems to be complementation, not duplication,” Mr Hernando observes. With two resorts plus other attractions in the Manila Bay area, includingMall of Asia, its adjacent 16,000-seat indoor arena and a nearby convention center, it’s time to “weave the elements into a destination,” Mr Hernando says. He expects Pagcor and Entertainment City licensees to begin work on streetscaping based on a Paul Steelman plan for the district, initiate shuttles and make other improvements through their joint council to oversee Entertainment City. Other landowners in the area are also likely to begin complementary projects in the 120-hectare area, including hotels, retail and housing. “City of Dreams is accelerating interest to develop,” Mr Hernando says. With a new toll road from the airport directly to Entertainment City due to begin operating by the end of this year, he says, “Everything is there. We don’t need to wait two more years.”