The Philippines’ land-based gaming industry is in the midst of its most challenging period in many years.
Gaming regulator PAGCOR recently reported a 9.6% year-on-year decline in gross gaming revenue from licensed casinos in 2025, including a 9.4% fall in Entertainment City and a 6.7% decline in Clark, located around two hours north of Manila by car.
The reasons for the country’s gaming woes have been well documented. Visitation from the Philippines’ top tourism source market, South Korea, plummeted by 18.5% in 2025, which anecdotal evidence suggests is due to Korean tourists exploring other Southeast Asian destinations like Vietnam in increasing numbers. Arrivals from mainland China fell by 14.3% in 2025.
This is important, because although the other eight countries that comprise the Philippines’ top 10 source markets all booked strong increases last year, South Korea and China represent the two most impactful from a gaming perspective. It is, after all, no secret that the ban on POGOs – an industry dominated by Chinese – resulted in a massive hit to VIP gaming revenues because cashed-up POGO executives were some of the most frequent visitors to the Philippines’ VIP rooms.
But as the saying goes, things are never as good or as bad as they seem, and in the Philippines’ case there already appear to be silver clouds on the horizon.
On 21 April, the Department of Tourism released its visitor data from the first three months of 2026 which showed that, categorized by place of residency, inbound visitor arrivals grew by 10.4% year-on-year to 1,828,657. More importantly, arrivals from China soared by 56.5%, lifting the share of mainland Chinese arrivals from 4.7% in 1Q25 to 6.3% in 1Q26 and seeing China move back into fourth spot among the Philippines’ tourism source markets.
Maybank Securities said this significant increase in Chinese arrivals reflected early traction from policy measures such as visa-free entry and the rollout of e-visas.
The DOT’s residency figures also showed a slower decline in South Korean arrivals, down 5.87%, but the tourism agency has similarly flagged Korea as a top target of its promotional activities this time around.
One reason to feel positive about the outlook for Korea sits just outside the rising casino hub of Clark, where Hann Philippines Inc is developing a unique eco-luxury golf and lifestyle estate unlike anything else in the region: Hann Reserve. Once complete, Hann Reserve will feature luxury residences, high-end gaming, world-class dining, an international school, multiple outdoor lifestyle experiences, fitness and wellness offerings, and cultural spaces. It is also set to become Asia’s golfing mecca, boasting three distinct golf courses designed by Nicklaus Design, Korean golfer KJ Choi and Faldo Design alongside a spectacular clubhouse and a PGA Performance Center aimed at becoming a training ground for the next generation of golfers.
IAG toured Hann Reserve in mid-April and was even lucky enough to play a round of golf on the recently opened Nicklaus course – a truly memorable experience offering a challenging but fun course and spectacular views of the surrounding mountainous countryside.
It is unique offerings like these that stand the Philippines in good stead and prove that the industry is not willing to sit back and rest on its laurels. A reminder that nothing is permanent except change.
