Genting source confirms Star Cruises will manage a second gaming resort in Manila
Genting Group, the leading Malaysian conglomerate specialising in gaming and leisure, says it is still committed to building casino and hotel facilities at Manila Bay in the Philippines.
Earlier this year, Inside Asian Gaming reported that a plan discussed in the Philippines media in 2008 for Genting to open a major resort at Manila Bay, including a Universal Studios theme park, had been dropped. Privately, Genting executives told IAG at the time and later that the plans had never been as advanced as suggested in some sections of the local press.
A senior source within the Group has now told IAG there will still be a Manila Bay project, but not on the scale suggested in the local media in 2008.
The source said no agreement had been signed yet, but that Star Cruises is the only tender for the Manila Bay project.
The spokesman said the Manila Bay project would be ‘phase two’ of the Group’s plan for Metro Manila. It will consist of 37 hectares (91 acres) of land for the development of over 3,000 hotel rooms to add to the more than 1,300 rooms on offer at Resorts World Manila.
Joint venture
The Manila Bay project will be a 50:50 joint venture between Star Cruises and Alliance Global Group, the conglomerate headed by Philippines entrepreneur Andrew Tan. This is the same partnership used to develop Resorts World Manila at Newport City near Manila’s international airport.
That first scheme, a US$700 million venture featuring a casino and three branded hotels, is run by a JV company called Travellers International Hotel Group Inc. The facility had its soft opening, for one floor of the casino, on 28th August.
Resorts World Manila and the Manila Bay project will both be aimed not only at local mass-market players but also mid-market high rollers (in terms of check-in money) from the domestic market and overseas who are seeking elite-level VIP facilities and service. The source says the new facility at Manila Bay could potentially be operational within three years.
“The Manila Bay project will start when we finish the development of Newport,” states the source.
The spokesman added that the timing would depend on market conditions, both in terms of consumer demand and finance. The source stresses, however, that having a strong local development partner would allow the Manila Bay scheme to be executed quickly and well.
The source said a quick turnaround had already been achieved on the Resorts World Manila scheme.
“From the time we started looking at the Metro Manila Newport project to the time that we started business, altogether you are looking at about 18 months. That’s the kind of time frame you are looking at [for Manila Bay]. So if we really want to move fast, our partner—being one of the largest property developers in Manila—can make it happen,” stated the Group source.
Time scale
The spokesman adds it is likely to be another 18 months from now before the three phases of Resorts World Manila are completed. If Manila Bay takes another 18 months after that, then work on the two Metro Manila projects would tot up to 36 months—i.e., three years.
The timing on the second project would depend on investors’ appetites for new gaming projects in the market, explained the source. The Philippines has tremendous potential both in the mass-market segment among locals, and for mid-level VIPs from home and outside the country, adds the source.
The spokesman cited the country’s population of 90 million and consistent GDP growth in recent years, even during the financial crisis, as causes for optimism. The source added that the country’s earnings from abroad have been growing steadily throughout the last decade and rapidly in the last two years. That may be attributed at least in part to the remittance culture created by large numbers of Filipinos working overseas and sending money home.
The source said the Metro Manila projects would be able to pull in VIP players. The spokesman added the Group expected the Manila schemes to appeal especially to mid-range high rollers (in terms of check-in value) looking for high quality service of the sort traditionally found in the Philippines. A significant portion of these VIP players are likely to be existing Star Cruises clients looking for additional entertainment to complement their cruise trips.
“Using the Star Cruises client database, and its VIP [agent] contacts, we are planning to put in a lot of these middle range junkets with middle range VIPs,” explained the source.
The spokesman added that the competitive environment created by the increase in casino capacity in the Asia Pacific region meant many gaming agents were shopping around regionally on behalf of their clients. Each agent is looking for the best ‘bang’ for their player’s buck. Genting’s Metro Manila casinos will offer mid level junkets the opportunity for their clients to be treated as top tier VIPs, adds the source.
Cash play
The spokesman adds that the strength of this mid-range VIP business model is that it isn’t based on extending credit to gamblers.
“The advantage we have at the moment is that a lot of those players don’t need credit,” explains the source.
Star Cruises’ database shows that the majority of its VIPs are cash players, adds the source. Unlike in the Macau market, where the VIP business is based heavily on credit, Star Cruises’ customers are very ‘liquid’ explains the spokesman.
Check-in levels are not comparable to those in Macau, says the source, but Star Cruises check-ins are typically HK$100,000 per session, with some players checking in several times that.
This is similar to the US$25,000 to US$30,000 check-in range for mid market VIPs visiting NagaWorld, the monopoly casino and hotel resort in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
Resorts World Manila on its own is a US$700 million project, while NagaWorld’s redevelopment was listed last year as one seventh of that outlay. As a result, Genting Group thinks the two properties are aiming at different markets.
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