Inside Asian Gaming

IAG JAPAN DEC 2019 56 (L to R) Manuel Antonio Sequeira, CEO and President of Volare Grandezza, and Alexander I Betita Jr, COO of Frontier Wish International Ltd. (左から)ボラーレ・グランデッツァのマニュエル・アントニオ・セケイラCEO兼社長とフロン ティア・ウィッシュ・インターナショナルのアレクサンダー I・ベティータJr最高執行責任者 FEATURES L ocated just 45 minutes by car from Clark Freeport Zone on the Philippines’ coastline, Subic Bay is an idyllic waterside holiday spot known both as a popular weekend getaway for those living in Manila and a home away from home for the Philippines’ rich and famous. It is also the location of arguably the country’s most unique casino at the prestigious Subic Bay Yacht Club. Quietly opened on 11 November this year, with full operations in place as of 1 December, the casino is just the second in the world to be based either inside or directly connected to a yacht club, with Hobart in Tasmania, Australia being the first. And before you go claiming they’ve forgotten about a little place called Monte Carlo, we’re reliably informed by Manuel Antonio Sequeira, CEO and President of one of the casino’s partner firms, Volare Grandezza, that, “Monte Carlo is split by a road, it is owned by the government and they are two different enterprises, so it’s not inside the Yacht Club.” The boutique casino is a new addition to Subic Bay Yacht Club, which celebrates its 22nd year in 2019. A joint venture between Volare Grandezza and Frontier Wish International Ltd, the casino concept was borne four years ago with the Php500 million (US$10 million investment) aimed at capitalizing on the lucrative clientele base Subic Bay is starting to attract. “Subic is a safe haven in the boating world, and we have mega-yachts coming in on a weekly and monthly basis to use Subic Bay as their base,” Sequeira says.