Inside Asian Gaming

IAG JAPAN JAN 2020 78 The Fountain at Okada Manila オカダマニラの噴水 FEATURES I n the increasingly competitivecluster that isAsia’s land-based casino industry, the Philippines, and more specifically its Entertainment City integrated resort precinct, shines brightest as the region’s outstanding long-term growth story. Typifying the bullish estimations of analysts for Philippines gaming, Morgan Stanley’s Praveen Choudhary and Gareth Leung stated in a recent note that the market looks set to grow “faster than the economy, driven by low penetration, a strong local economy, supply additions, Chinese visitor arrivals, better VIP margins, favorable policies and infrastructure improvement.” By pure numbers, Manila’s IRs booked year-on- year growth of 27% in 2018 to Php140.5 billion (US$2.8 billion) and are expected to have grown by another 11% in 2019 – stronger than its primary regional competitors in Macau and Singapore. And right at the forefront of the nation’s gaming growth is Okada Manila – the most recent of Entertainment City’s IRs to open its doors also the largest with 500 gaming tables and 3,000 slot machines on a sprawling property spanning 44 hectares. First opened in December 2016, it has taken three years for Okada Manila to finally reach completion but the long wait is just about over with the last of almost 1,000 rooms due to welcome guests in 1Q20. Ranging in size from 60 square meters to 1,400 square meters, they include three recently launched luxury villas that representatives of Okada Manila say have already proven extremely popular with high-end clientele. That popularity has already been reflected in the property’s 3Q19 results, which saw VIP rolling chip increase 37.9% to JPY138.56 billion and mass table drop up 14.7% to JPY5.08 billion – continuing an