A kickstart for tourism
Philippine developer Megaworld Corp. will spend an extra $300 million on upscale apartments and hotels at Travellers Internationals’ ongoing development at Manila’s Entertainment City.
Travellers, a joint venture of Alliance Global Group and Genting Hong Kong, is one of four firms building integrated resorts in the 31-hectare (76-acre) complex in the Philippine capital. When the project broke ground last year, a statement from Travellers said Entertainment City is expected “to significantly contribute to Philippine tourism in the coming years.” The four IRs include Resorts World Bayshore; City of Dreams Manila; the Manila Bay Resorts; and Solaire Resort & Casino.
According to Reuters news agency, Megaworld’s additional investment will bring the total budget for the Travellers project to PHP65 billion (US$1.4 billion). When it opens in late 2020, the complex known as Westside City will include a luxury mall, upscale apartments, a 3,000-seat grand opera house and a total of 1,500 hotel rooms, Megaworld said in a filing to the Philippine Stock Exchange.
“We are very excited to see Westside City rising to be a showcase of Manila as a truly world-class Philippine capital,” said Andrew Tan, chairman and chief executive of both Alliance Global and Megaworld, in a statement cited by GGRAsia.
Like other jurisdictions around the world, Manila hopes to lure Asian VIPs who no longer choose to gamble in Macau. According to the World Casino Directory, the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. or PAGCOR, the state-owned gaming operator and regulator, just posted an 18.7 percent increase in year-on-year earnings; a 45 percent increase in gaming operation totals; and a 5 percent drop in operating expenses.
