Bad timing with Duterte taking office
Kazuo Okada and Donald Trump now have something in common: both have named casino resorts after themselves. Okada’s Tiger Resort Leisure and Entertainment, which is building the third integrated resort in Entertainment City in Parañaque, Philippines, just announced that the name of the property will be Okada Manila.
The resort will feature almost 1,000 hotel rooms, more than 500 table games and 3,000 electronic gaming machines, according to the Asia Gaming Brief. It will also have an indoor beach.
“Okada Manila has the potential to compete with the entertainment and gaming giants from across the region with its best natural resources– its hospitality and warmth,” said Tiger Resort President Steve Wolstenholme, “Here, expect an effortless integration of the Japanese Omotenashi—people’s respectful demeanor, passion for creativity, and hunger for innovation—and the Filipinos’ hard work, hospitality and cheerful spirit, in terms of quality service.”
Tiger Resort COO Takahiro Usui told the Nikkei Asian Review the name is designed to keep everyone focused on success, just like the boss. The publication called Okada Manila “a beachhead gamble,” coinciding as it does with the election of new President Rodrigo Duterte, a radical opponent of gaming who is already disrupting the industry with a proposed ban on iGaming, a ban to keep government workers and their families from entering casinos, and a proposed sale of government regulator PAGCOR.
Still, Okada is heavily invested in his Manila resort, which could cost $3 billion in the first phase and reach $4 billion when three more phases are built, AGB reported. And that could be just the start for Tiger Resort Leisure and Entertainment, which also plans for resorts on the island of Palawan and in Davao in the south, where Duterte is based.
The company changed the casino’s name to the Okada Manila from Manila Bay Resorts because Japanese brands are popular in the Philippines. It will join two other established resorts in Entertainment City, Bloomberry Resorts Solaire Resort and Casino, which opened in 2013, and Melco Crown Philippines City of Dreams Manila, which opened in 2014.
Bloomberry Chairman Enrique Razon has warned of oversupply in the market when Okada Manila opens, but Antonio Cojuangco, Okada’s local partner, dismissed his concerns. “Yes, there probably will be,” he conceded. “It doesn’t matter if there are other hotels—just make sure your hotel is the best in the area.”
Okada was an original investor in Wynn Resorts, becoming vice chairman soon after the company debuted in 2000. Wynn had always avoided using his own name on previous properties—Mirage, Bellagio, Treasure Island and others—but the board convinced him to name the new company and properties Wynn. Okada was ousted as vice chairman and stripped of his shares in 2014, setting of a legal battle that continues to this day. Part of the complaint against Okada by Wynn was that he would be competing directly with Wynn’s Macau operation by going forward in Manila.
