Offices in the mix, too
A spate of new investments in the Philippines’ Clark Freeport Zone could make the former U.S. air force base Asia’s premier business center.
Five casinos are already up and running. Future developments include new infrastructure, state-of-the-art MICE and office developments and world-class sports facilities, all in a “green city” setting, according to CDC Gaming Reports. But analysts are unconvinced it will rival Entertainment City as a gaming hub.
“Clark is identified by the national government as the vision of a modern Philippines,” said Jing Arambulo, a senior manager in the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp.’s communications department. “The transformation of Clark Freeport Zone has attracted top investors, which include the entities that have been granted provisional gaming licenses by PAGCOR. It is foreseen as the next premier economic hub in the Asia Pacific region, with facilities for training, conferences, tourism and leisure,” she added.
Along with the Clark Global City project, Filinvest Development Corp. recently signed a deal with PAGCOR to develop a $200 million integrated gaming resort at Mimosa, its current development in Clark City.
“Filinvest Mimosa’s enviable location close to Clark International Airport makes it accessible to both domestic and international tourists. Now that we have secured the permit for the development of the casino, we foresee further upsurge in tourist arrivals upon completion of the various components,” Josephine Gotianun-Yap, president of Filinvest Development Corporation said in a news release.
In addition, an expansion of Clark Airport should be complete by early 2020. Developers say the expanded airport will be able to handle 12 million passengers a year and double the number of domestic flights to about 240 a week.
Roads and bridges in the region are also being improved to the tune of at least P12 billion (US$229 million).
All these developments are good for Clark, but may not result in a flood of international tourism related to gaming, noted Bloomberg analyst Margaret Huang.
“Clark may be a good location for smaller, regional casino hotels however it will be difficult for Clark to compete on the scale of Entertainment City which attracts higher spending locals and foreign tourists. Infrastructure plans to ease traffic from Manila to Clark may help to funnel local gamblers to Clark but it will be tough to attract foreign tourists given the lack of attractions in Clark,” said Huang.
Two PAGCOR-owned casinos are already up and running in Clark, together with the Widus Hotel and Casino, the Midori Casino and the Royce Casino. In 2017, they generated a collective P7 billion (US$133.4 million) in revenue, compared with P109.4 billion (US$2 billion) for Entertainment City in Manila, according to PAGCOR figures. In 2016, Clark casinos generated P13.4 billion (US$255.4 million) before the closure of two properties by the regulator.
The Widus property recently announced a $500 million expansion that will follow completion of a new five-star hotel this fall. Daesik Han, president and CEO of Widus International Leisure Inc., told the Manila Standard, “The government is building the infrastructure but the private sector should contribute to build some recreational facilities so that this area is not going to be a transit area only.”
Filinvest also is confident there is room for both the regional economy and international tourism to grow. “There are a lot of plans for Clark including government infrastructure projects from railways to airports so the connectivity will greatly help our development. Clark is easily becoming an accessible hub for potential gamers,” said Alex Coloquio, Mimosa Cityscape’s AVP for Business Development.
The Standard quoted Noel Manankil, president and CEO of Clark Development Corp., who said the state-run entity has earmarked $38 million to upgrade the area’s roads and improve its mass transit systems and parks this year after spending around $19 million on similar projects in 2017.
