PRESIDENT AND COO
Bloomberry Resorts
PRESIDENT AND COO
Solaire Resort and Casino
POWER SCORE: 613
POSITION LAST YEAR: 47
CLAIMS TO FAME
- Trusted confidante of Bloomberry owner Enrique Razon Jr
- Serves as President, COO and Director of Solaire parent company Bloomberry
HAVING ENDURED some high-profile misadventures in establishing the management team he wanted for his newly minted Manila resort Solaire, owner Enrique Razon Jr ultimately struck gold in former Marina Bay Sands CEO Thomas Arasi.
Since joining the company in late 2013, Arasi has helped Solaire become the market leader among all Philippines licensed casinos with a hotel offering as good as anything else in Asia and a gaming floor to which all others aspire.
The COVID-19 pandemic slowed Solaire’s momentum, but with the Philippines now reopened to the world and most restrictions dropped, Q2 saw the company soar back to profit, with gaming revenues up 131% on the same period last year to US$235 million.
But Solaire’s parent firm Bloomberry Resorts Corp isn’t resting on its laurels. The company will launch its second integrated resort, Solaire North, in Quezon City next year; recently announced plans for a third in Cavite; and looks likely to buy a significant stake in PH Resorts Group, which is developing casino resorts in Cebu and Clark.
Arasi appears to have a few more tricks up his sleeve too, having recently overseen the launch of a new VIP area at Solaire – said to be breaking records already – and a number of other additions to the property’s gaming space in the works.
Closing in on a decade with Bloomberry, Arasi clearly has the trust of his boss Razon, the Philippines looks set to boom, and the future looks bright.
For the full list of 2022 Asian Gaming Power 50 winners, click here.
