Inside Asian Gaming

IAG APR 2023年4月 亞博匯 52 FEATURES T he idea,” explains casino industry veteran Dennis Andreaci, “is that when you are the first to build a world-leading property in an emerging jurisdiction, you get way ahead of everybody else and you create a whole new market for that jurisdiction to build upon. “Then if you take that world- leading property and continue to maintain it and develop it, the competition will never catch up and you will always be the “ market leader. That’s what we’ve done here.” Andreaci is discussing the Philippines’ Hann Casino Resort – located about 80 kilometers north of Manila in the Clark Freeport Zone – which last year completed a US$600 million expansion and rebranding project aimed at elevating the property to this world-leading standard. Originally launched in 2008 as Widus Hotel & Casino, and with a modest offering of 24 gaming tables and 150 slot machines, the Hann expansion covers 130,000 square meters with 147 tables and 868 machines, plus the Philippines’ first ever Swissôtel, specialty dining options, retail outlets, a swimming pool, an executive lounge and event venues such as a ballroom and function rooms. As Andreaci points out, Hann is to Clark what Solaire Resort is to Manila’s Entertainment City. “Solaire set the standard in Manila and the others followed afterwards, and here it’s the same thing,” he explains. “Hann is open and trying in many ways