Alejandro Tengco, head of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp (PAGCOR), says the agency might approve new licenses in the country for integrated resorts (IRs) containing casinos.
I can see that in the next four years, we might be approving one or two more licenses
Alejandro Tengco, PAGCOR chairman
Tengco, chairman and chief executive of the country’s gaming regulator, noted that several new casino properties are set to launch in the coming years, boosting the industry’s gross gaming revenues and solidifying the Philippines as one of Asia’s top gambling destinations.
In late May, Bloomberry Resorts Corp opened its US$1.0-billion Solaire Resort North at Vertis, Quezon City, north of Manila. At least six new gaming projects are in the works, including a casino resort planned by Bloomberry for Paniman, a coastal community in Cavite, about 66 kilometers (41 miles) southwest of Metro Manila.
Other projects include a casino hotel at Westside City within the Entertainment City casino zone in Manila, a project in Clark Freeport Zone, Pampanga province, and a casino resort in Mactan, Cebu.
According to Tengco, two gaming-related complexes are also planned for the island of Boracay. One is being developed by Andrew Tan’s Global Estate Resorts Inc. Tan is linked to Alliance Global Group Inc, which invests via Travellers International Hotel Group Inc in the Newport World Resorts casino complex in Manila.
The second project in Boracay “will be a 65-35 [percent] joint venture between PAGCOR and the operator,” Tengco outlined without providing further details.
Tengco also mentioned receiving assurances about the opening of the casino hotel at Westside City. Philippines-listed Suntrust Resort Holdings Inc, a unit of LET Group Holdings Ltd, is developing the property using Travellers International’s casino license.
“I am very confident that the project will open, primarily because they’re using Travellers’ license,” stated the top regulator.
“I had a dialogue with the top management of Travellers, and I got assurances that they would definitely make sure the project will be completed,” he added.
Hong Kong-listed LET Group recently announced that operations at the casino hotel at Westside City would begin in “the first quarter of 2025.”
GGR Balance
The Philippine gaming sector, including non-casino operations, generated gross gaming revenue (GGR) of PHP81.70 billion (US$1.42 billion) in the first quarter of 2024, up 18.5 percent from the prior-year quarter.
The e-Games segment brought in PHP22.5 billion in GGR for the three months to March 31, “more than six times” the PHP3.5 billion recorded in the opening quarter of 2023.
The country’s licensed commercial-sector casinos remained the “biggest contributor” to first-quarter GGR, at PHP49.7 billion, though the figure was down 8.2 percent year-on-year, according to official data.
“While the [GGR] numbers in the land-based operations have plateaued, the trajectory in the electronic gaming sector has been unprecedented,” observed Tengco.
“So, hopefully, the growth in the electronic gaming segment’s GGR will balance the decline in the land-based sector,” he said. “It might even offset, or more than offset, such a decline.”
Tengco does not believe some patrons “are shying away from land-based operations,” but suggests that a “convenience factor” might be boosting GGR in the online gaming segment. Players can access the same games they are used to playing in physical casinos from the convenience of their homes, he explained.
“When it comes to land-based operations, one of the things that is really hurting us is the fact that we do not have many tourists coming from China.”
“Do I see the numbers coming back? It’ll all depend on what will truly happen with the relations between the Philippines and China,” said Tengco.
If bilateral relations normalize, “we will see an influx of Chinese tourists, which will definitely bring up the revenues for land-based operations, including for Casino Filipino venues,” he noted.
The Philippines received just over 2.4 million foreign tourists in the first five months of 2024, up 16.3 percent from a year earlier, according to the nation’s Department of Tourism. China, previously the top source market for the Philippines, provided about 168,628 visitors in the first five months this year, representing about 6.6 percent of all arrivals.
However, Philippine authorities are also looking beyond the Chinese market to maintain growth and sustainability, affirmed Tengco.
The country’s gaming industry recorded GGR of PHP285.27 billion for full-year 2023, and PAGCOR expects the market to reach PHP336.38 billion this year. “The robust first-quarter GGR result positions us to reach and most likely exceed our 2024 full-year target,” said Tengco.