Inside Asian Gaming

IAG APR 2023年4月 亞博匯 94 10 YEARS AGO S olaire Resort & Casino turned 10 on 16 March 2023, and just as Inside Asian Gaming has been there to witness its development in the decade since, we were also present at launch. As we highlighted in our April 2013 cover story, titled “Game On”, the opening of Solaire signalled a new era for the Philippines casino industry. Previously, the local gaming market was dominated by PAGCOR – the government- owned operator and regulator which at that time ran 13 Casino Filipino locations and 23 slots clubs comprising a combined 7,100 slots and 650 table games. Private enterprise joined the mix with the opening of two Fiesta-branded casinos, operated by Thunderbird Resorts, in San Fernando City and Rizal, followed by Jimei Group’s Fontana Hot Spring Leisure Park in what is now the Clark Freeport Zone. While the 2009 opening of Resorts World Manila represented the Philippines’ first integrated resort, Solaire took the experience to a whole new level as the first property located in the heart of Manila’s Entertainment City precinct. Enrique K Razon Jr, the Chairman and CEO of Solaire owner Bloomberry Resorts Corp, said at the time he wanted his new IR to “match and hopefully even surpass” the best that Macau, Las Vegas or Australia had to offer, and IAG ’s first impressions suggested he was quickly on the right track.