...the Broadway of Asia

PH eyed as 'Broadway of Asia'

 

By Neil Jerome C. Morales,

The Philippine Star

04/10/2013

 

 

MANILA, Philippines - Genting Hong Kong Ltd., the partner of real estate tycoon Andrew L. Tan in Resorts World Manila, remains bullish on gaming prospects in the Philippines.

 

The Philippines has the potential to be the “Broadway of Asia” through a $1.1-billion integrated casino complex along Manila Bay, the company said.

“Travellers Group remains uniquely and strategically positioned to capitalize on the growth opportunities in the Philippines through its existing operations Phase 3 expansion at Newport City,” Genting said.

Genting said it is also banking on the $1.1-billion Resorts World Bayshore at the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor)-owned Entertainment City.

Travellers International Hotel Group Inc. – which owns the eight-hectare Resorts World Manila complex in Pasay – is a joint venture of local conglomerate Alliance Global Group Inc. and Genting Hong Kong, the third-largest cruise line operator in the world.

Specifically, Genting said the expansion at Newport City includes the Marriott Grand Ballroom, which will be a 5,000-seater venue for meetings and conventions, and new world-class hotels under the Hilton and Sheraton brands.

“The development of Resorts World Bayshore will include a five-star, 600-room Westin Hotel and an iconic structure, the Grand Opera House with an intention to make the Philippines the Broadway of Asia,” Genting said.

Travellers Group will start building Resorts World Bayshore this year and plans to commence commercial operations in 2016.

The casino hotel is situated in Entertainment City, a 120-hectare property reclaimed from Manila Bay. Pagcor Entertainment City is the Philippines’ answer to Las Vegas, Singapore and Macau gaming hubs.

Last year, Travellers Group’s profits surged more than 42 percent to $159.8 million from $111.9 million a year ago as revenues jumped 14 percent to $752.4 million from $659.3 million.

Travellers Group said its total operating expenses rose 22 percent to $252.4 million from $206.6 million “mainly due to the increase of new hires to support the expansion in operations, as well as marketing and advertising efforts to promote the integrated resort.”

Launched in 2009, Resorts World Manila attracted 4.5 million foot traffic in 2011, which was earlier projected to surge to seven million in 2012 amid a buoyant local economy.

 

...the global gambling elite league

Philippines opens bid to join global gambling elite

 

Agence France-Presse

03/13/2013

 

 

MANILA - The Philippines makes its biggest bet this weekend in a high-stakes bid to join the world's elite gaming destinations, with the launch of a $1.2-billion casino on Manila Bay.

Solaire Manila

 

Solaire Manila Resorts is the first of four enormous entertainment venues slated to rise over a giant chunk of prime, reclaimed land that industry and government leaders expect will attract millions of cashed-up Asian tourists.

"What Solaire brings is an entertainment and gaming experience that doesn't exist in the Philippines today," its American chief operating officer, Michael French, told AFP in an interview this week ahead of Saturday's opening.

"It will be like going to Las Vegas. This raises the scale, the excitement and the... glamour."

Controlled by billionaire Philippine port operator Enrique Razon, Solaire has 300 gaming tables, 1,200 slot machines and seven restaurants. The building also has 500 hotel rooms and 2,000 parking slots.

It features glass ceilings filtering abundant tropical sunlight, huge chandeliers, thick red-themed carpets, blown glass wall-to-ceiling panels, water pools and an army of cocktail waitresses in tiny red dresses.

Another wing is being built to add 300 all-suite hotel rooms, 30-40 high-end shops and a theater where French plans to host travelling Broadway shows as well as local and foreign lounge acts.

Meanwhile, preparations are underway for the launch of the three other big-ticket casinos, which all involve major foreign backers. The four will together make up "Entertainment City", located near Manila's airport.

Entertainment City

The Belle Grande -- a joint venture with the Philippines' richest man, Henry Sy, Australian billionaire James Packer and Macau gaming tycoon Lawrence Ho -- is slated to open next year, with its golden facade already having been built.

Japanese gambling magnate Kazuo Okada and Malaysia's Genting Group are involved in the other two, each in partnership with local Chinese-Filipino tycoons. Both are expected to open between 2015 and 2017.

Cristino Naguiat, head of state regulator Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp, told AFP he expected Philippine gaming revenues to double this year to $2 billion because of the Solaire opening.

When all four are open, Entertainment City is expected to boost the country's annual gaming revenues up to $10 billion, he said.

The nation's existing gambling revenues come from 13 relatively small casinos around the country run by Pagcor, the gaming regulator, and a bigger one in Manila run by Genting and a Filipino tycoon that opened in 2009.

While Macau counts $38 billion in annual revenues, Naguiat is confident the Philippines will eventually have one of the biggest gambling industries in the world, comparing it with the Las Vegas strip's roughly $6-billion turnover.

"We will beat Las Vegas. I'm pretty sure of that," he said.

Naguiat said the casinos were mainly targeting gamblers from Asia, pointing out that Manila was a mere 3-4 hours away by plane from from any point in China, Japan and South Korea, where many of the world's high rollers live.

"Actually it's a no-brainer. The big market is here in Asia," he said.

Naguiat said that to make it easier for the foreign gamblers, a skyway roadlink to Manila airport is due to open in two years that will allow them to avoid the city's notorious gridlock and reach Entertainment City in just five minutes.

The government has further sweetened the offer by taking just 27 percent in taxes off winnings for normal gamblers, compared with Macau's 40 percent, according to Naguiat.

High rollers have it even better, with winnings taxed at just 15 percent.

Naguiat said he saw Entertainment City as the key to the government's ambitious bid to attract 10 million tourists a year and create more jobs in a country where a fourth of the workforce is unemployed or underemployed.

About 4.6 million tourists visited the country last year, compared with about 14 million for Singapore and 28 million for Macau.

He said Entertainment City should easily employ 40,000 Filipinos when all four venues are open.
More than 50,000 Filipinos, some of them among nine million working in other countries, applied for 4,500 Solaire jobs last year, according to French.

About 400 Filipino expatriates were brought back, including Filipino dealers and pit bosses from casinos in Macau and Singapore who were given managerial posts.

Others were chefs and hotel staff, including more than 20 from the Emirates Palace of Abu Dhabi, touted as the world's most opulent hotel.

However, the casinos are stirring controversy in the mainly Roman Catholic nation, with critics saying the government's embrace of gambling to solve the country's financial woes is a dangerous signal.

"It gives false hope to people that they can find solutions to their financial problems by gambling," Catholic priest Rolly Flores, whose Our Lady of Sorrows church lies three kilometers away, told AFP.

"Only gambling lords thrive when people lose money by gambling."

 

...the growing PH gaming industry

PH gaming seen to surpass Singapore’s

Big population, spillover of VIPs to fuel growth

 

By Doris C. Dumlao
Philippine Daily Inquirer

Thursday, February 28th, 2013

The Philippines’ burgeoning gaming industry may surpass Singapore’s $5.6-billion gaming market by 2018 on the back of favorable local demographics and a likely spillover of foreign high-rollers, foreign bank Credit Suisse said.

In a new equity research dated Feb. 27, Credit Suisse initiated coverage on the Philippine gaming sector with a rosy outlook of a 28-percent compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) for the industry over the 2012-2018 period. The bank’s outlook, however, was less aggressive compared to the state-owned Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp.’s goal of attaining $10 billion in annual gaming revenues by 2017.

“We view the Philippines as having a potentially larger domestic market in the high-margin mass segment compared to other Asian gaming hubs on the back of favorable demographics,” the report said, noting that the Philippine population of 97 million was almost thrice that of Singapore, Malaysia and Macau combined.

Credit Suisse pointed out that the Philippines also had the fastest growing working-age population in emerging Asia, projected to grow by more than 2 percent annually over the next 10 years. Accelerating wage growth, signs of increased spending power and consumer confidence at near-record highs all pointed to favorable demand prospects, the research said.

It also noted that limited hotel capacity and the absence of new casinos elsewhere in the region until 2015 could result in a spillover of foreign VIPs (very important persons) into local shores.

Overall, the research sees a longer sustained growth for the Philippines compared to Singapore due to stronger junket participation and a protracted novelty effect.

“Note that the VIP market in Singapore is primarily in-house, heavily reliant on credit directly extended by the casino to VIP clients. We believe that this reliance on the in-house/direct VIP segment stems from the difficult operating environment for junkets in Singapore. As a result, Singapore casinos bear the brunt of the credit risk in running the VIP business, as opposed to sharing the risk with junket operators,” the research said.

“We believe that Philippine casinos will be able to draw stronger participation from junkets—and consequently provide a more stable supply of credit to VIP clients—as lower tax rates in the country will allow for higher commissions to be paid to junket operators. Moreover, based on our channel checks, the regulatory environment in the Philippines appears much more conducive to junket operations as compared to Singapore,” it said.

Given this gaming outlook, Credit Suisse initiated coverage on two listed gaming stocks, Bloomberry Resorts Corp. and Belle Corp., with “outperform” ratings and target prices of P17.50 and P6.50, respectively.

Credit Suisse projected a strong earnings CAGR of 38 percent for Bloomberry and 68 percent for Belle from 2013 through 2016, much like in the early years of Singapore casinos. The implied price-to-equity ratio for both stocks (2014 P/E multiple of 20x for Bloomberry and 30.8x for Belle) are below the 33.3x pre-operating P/E of Genting Singapore Plc, which the research said provided a better benchmark than more mature regional peers.

A P/E ratio of 20x means that investors are paying 20 times the amount of money they are expected to make for that year.

In the near- to medium-term, the research said the growth in Philippine gaming would be driven by the increase in capacity, with new casinos coming on stream through 2016. Bloomberry’s Solaire is expected to open by March this year while Belle Grande, a partnership between the SM group and Macau’s Melco Crown, is expected to open in the first half of 2014.

Credit Suisse said Bloomberry and Belle could start enjoying positive free cash flow by 2014 and attain a net cash position by 2015.

“We expect Philippine casinos to exhibit higher profitability than regional peers in non-Macau Asia on the back of a more favorable cost structure,” the report said. Although tax rates on gaming revenues are lower in Singapore than in the Philippines, the report noted that Singapore casinos are also taxed at the bottom-line whereas gaming profits of Philippine casinos are not, while Malaysia casinos are likewise taxed at the bottomline, on top of having a higher effective tax rate on gaming revenues compared to the Philippines.

 

 

...the PH mega-casino

Mega-casino set to open in PH next month

 

Agence France-Presse

02/06/2013

 

 

MANILA - A $4 billion mega-casino complex is set to open in the Philippines in mid-March when the first of four franchise-holders starts commercial operations, the parent firm said in a disclosure released Wednesday.

 

 

 

The $1.2 billion Solaire Manila Resorts is one of four gaming operations licenced at Manila's bayside Entertainment City, a government project designed to compete with Macau, Las Vegas and Singapore as a gaming hub.

Boasting 500 hotel rooms set in modern resorts, Solaire will open its doors on March 16, parent company Bloomberry Resorts Corp. said in a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange.

"(We) confirm that (Bloomberry's) Solaire Manila Resorts and Casino has collected the top former operating officers of world-renowned casinos in Las Vegas and other parts of the world," it said in a letter to the exchange.

The February 5 letter, released by the bourse on Wednesday, said these personnel include around 400 Filipinos who have worked in gaming and hotels across the world.

Solaire plans to add 300 more hotel rooms after two years, said Bloomberry, a listed firm controlled by Philippine port tycoon Enrique Razon.

Two other franchise-holders -- one involving Australian billionaire James Packer and Macau gaming tycoon Lawrence Ho as shareholders and another with Japanese gambling tycoon Kazuo Okada -- are also building at the complex.

The 100-hectare (247-acre) Entertainment City, a project of the state-owned gaming regulator Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp., required each of the franchise-holders to invest at least $1 billion.

A unit of global leisure and entertainment group Genting Hong Kong Ltd. is a key investor in the fourth franchise.

Bloomberry said it could not confirm a local news report that the entire Entertainment City project would generate annual revenues of at least $10 billion by 2017, putting it among the world's gaming big leagues.

Spokesmen for the regulator could not be reached for comment on Wednesday, while Solaire has not responded to AFP's requests for an interview.

 

...the potential global advergaming leader

Philippines can be a global leader in advergaming

 

Philippine Daily Inquirer

Thursday, January 17th, 2013

Bazinga technopreneurs Zes Martinez and Homer Nievera

Who doesn’t know Angry Birds? It was one of 2012’s biggest buzzwords, a hugely successful smartphone video game that got millions of people worldwide, across all age groups playing like crazy.

This year, the Philippines is on the cusp of becoming a world leader in video-gaming as a proudly made Pinoy video game aims to surpass what Angry Birds has reached in terms of popularity and dollar payback.

But that’s getting ahead of the story.

From a $140,000 investment, Angry Birds returned with $70 million in revenues. The blockbuster hysteria that it created is a great case study for the growing importance of video games as new media highway for forward-thinking advertisers.

A case in point is the rapidly evolving online, social and mobile game markets. They all have captured the hearts of Asian and world gamers.

Huge untapped market

Video game is a $48-billion industry and is expected to grow to $68 billion this year. The two-year-old online social gaming is worth $600 million and will jump to $1 billion by 2013 alone.

Let’s focus our eyes on Asia.

There are more than 180 million online gamers in China and the industry outperforms the national GDP growth.

According to the 2011 China’s games industry annual and five-year forecast report, published by Niko Partners, a leading research firm specializing in Asian games market, the 2011 growth rate reached 21.4 percent, or a revenue of $5.8 billion.

The World Bank has projected a growth rate of 9.3 percent for China’s gross domestic product for the same year. Southeast Asia follows China’s lead, predicted at $1.7 billion with 100 million gamers by 2014. To make the good news even better, paying gamers are now a majority.

A cinemablend.com report declares the Asia-Pacific region as the largest gaming market in the world.

 

It is expected to be the fastest-growing region within the next five years.

By 2015, there will be more than 100 million gamers throughout the emerging markets of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Asia-Pacific also dominates the mobile games industry, accounting for over 60 percent of the $13.4-billion global market. This has been driven primarily by Japan and South Korea, and now China, the world’s biggest mobile market.

Fun media

Nike, Nestle, McDonald’s are some of the biggest brands that have utilized video gaming to connect to its core target more intimately and in a fun way.

Called Advergaming, it is a fun marketing way using a downloadable video game that advertises a product by weaving the brand as part of the game.

Gil de Palma of Palmagick Entertainment

“The beauty of it is that it gives you not only online and offline consumer interaction but also results in real time with real metrics,” says Homer Nievera, the man at the helm of Bazinga Inc., largely responsible for marketing Pinoy digital ingenuity to the world.

As cool as the video games he markets, and a social media expert down to e-commerce and e-wallet, Nievera, “Homerun” to many, prefers to call himself a serial global technopreneur.

Nievera’s prime advocacy is helping start-ups succeed through multiple streams of revenues.

As an expert business developer who has helped local and global tech companies achieve hypergrowth, Nievera is a sought-after consultant and speaker. He currently does the rounds of meetings and conferences for topics such as social entrepreneurship, gamification and hyper-sales growth.

Endless possibilities

“In Advergaming, you might see a character having a soft drink, a car driving past a snack food billboard, teeners chatting on their tablets, a gang hanging out in a mall, a dad making a bank transaction, a housewife indulging in a beauty salon, etc. The possibilities for branding and, most importantly, consumer engagements, are infinite,” Nievera says.

Along with his business and marketing director August Martinez III, Nievera is gungho about selling Pinoy video games to the world—even ‘crazy’ with a cool promo idea offering a brand-new Audi for a soon-to-be launched online game on social media.

As for Martinez, “We are an enabling techno-Pinoy company whose main focus is to market world-class Pinoy digital work through innovative technologies and creative solutions.”

Martinez is proud of Bazinga being a digital entertainment company engaged in providing fun to the public through casual and social gaming.

“Starting with our flagship offering, Bazinga World is ready to help talented Pinoys in monetizing their digital ideas,” Martinez says.

Bazinga World

Bazinga came from the word used by celebrity Sheldon Cooper in the sitcom “The Big Bang Theory,” meaning “gotcha” or “eureka.”

The dynamic company has immensely talented, young and innovative people, experts in their respective fields with proven track records. It has grown so fast that it now has offices in California and Texas, which help market Pinoy video games and entertainment content worldwide.

“We support local game programmers and developers by providing the right ecosystem to realize their dreams of having their software programs and games see the light of day,” Martinez explains the company’s mission.

Bazinga is poised to be a major global player in digital entertainment. In fact, it is all set to launch a bunch of Philippine-made video games globally: WordTrotter and about a dozen exciting more.

All of them created in partnership with, undoubtedly, the Philippines’ top digital gaming developer, Palmagick Entertainment, whose wizard is Gil de Palma, a UP graduate, writer, artist, filmmaker, and creator of WordTrotter, “the world’s coolest word game,” as described by online video game diehards.

In 2001, the University of the Philippines National Writers Workshop, one of the most prestigious writing fellowships in Asia, awarded De Palma its first fellowship for screenplay.

De Palma was also a finalist in 2007 Asian Television Forum SuperPitch (Singapore); 2003 Moondance International Film Festival (Hollywood); 2002 Cinemanila International Film Festival; semifinalist, 2001 Paramount Pictures-Chesterfield Film Company: The Writer’s Film Project (Hollywood) and 1999 Big Australian International Screenplay Competition.

Apart from WordTrotter, De Palma also was the creator of the superhero pack Taekwondoggs. He is currently co-developing a video game with an international brand of health and beauty products. The game allows players to build a business empire using product purchases built-in to enhance the total gaming experience.

PH: World capital for video games

Just like Pinoy world-class animators used by Hollywood and other filmmakers around the world (Hanna Barbera, Walt Disney, Pixar), the Philippines is slowly becoming one of Asia’s biggest sources of online video games to the world.

In WordTrotter, De Palma brings into play the technique of word retention by familiarization-multiplied a thousand fold by the thrill of casual gaming.

It is designed with the nonviolent play-and-learn casual gaming model to reach practically all demographic sectors worldwide.

“WordTrotter is unlike any online word game you have played. Here, you’ll meet characters that are able to walk upside down and sideways,” De Palma says.

“The amazing thing about it is you get to build your English vocabulary in the process—whether you like it or not. And you’re going to have so much fun doing it,” he adds.

Want to share the game? Easy. One click and your friends will get it. Want the world to know your top score? Just click. Want to send a free game, power-up gifts, and other game freebies? WordTrotter on Facebook will handle it all for you.

With the continued gamification of media and humans getting wired for fun and games, the troika of Nievera, Martinez and De Palma is poised to put the country on centerstage of world advergaming.

...the IAAPA Head

Pinoy to head biggest amusement association

 

By Rio Rose Ribaya

Yahoo! Southeast Asia Newsroom

10 November 2012

Enchanted Kingdom owner Mario Mamon acknowledges promotional tie-up with Ocean Park Hong Kong during the launch of Ocean Park's Christmas Sensation: Santa Festival at Marriott Hotel Manila in Pasay City on …more November 8. (NPPA Images/Angela Galia) 

A Filipino businessman has been selected to head the largest amusement industry trade association in the world.

Enchanted Kingdom (EK) owner Mario Mamon is the first Asian ever chosen to head the US-based International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA).

"He will be assuming as vice chairman first this week in America, which will last until November next year," EK vice president Cynthia Mamon said.

"His term as chairman will start in November next year and will last until 2014," she added.

Based in Virginia, IAAPA represents over 4,000 member organizations from all kinds of amusement centers including theme parks, museums, even mini-golf courses in 93 countries.

...the future key player in gaming

Pagcor chief sees Philippines as key player in int’l gaming in few years

By Doris C. Dumlao
Philippine Daily Inquirer

Wednesday, October 24th, 2012

Belle Grande, one of four integrated resorts in Entertainment City, is taking shape along Roxas Boulevard. PHOTO BY RICK ALBERTO

MANILA, Philippines—The head of the of the state-owned Philippine Amusement Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) sees the country becoming a key player in international gaming, accounting for up to a tenth of the global gaming market in a few years.

In a statement that reported on the highlights of a recent regional forum, Pagcor chairman Cristino Naguiat Jr. said that “compared to Las Vegas, Macau and Singapore, the Philippine gaming industry has a long way to go in terms of revenue potential.”

“With the right blend of private sector investment, regulatory maturity and improvements in tourism infrastructure, we believe that a 10 percent slice of the world’s gaming pie in a few years’ time is an achievable target,” he said.

Naguiat said the country’s growing potential as the region’s next best bet for tourism and gaming was given prominence during an international forum attended by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Finance Ministers and members of the international investing community.

“The breakout session on tourism and gaming during the 9th ASEAN Finance Ministers’ Investor Seminar (AFMIS) was well attended by fund managers, stock brokers, stock market analysts, and representatives of financial institutions. This indicates the high interest of international investors on tourism—specifically gaming—as one of the main engines for growth in the Philippines,” said Naguiat.

The Philippines recently hosted the AFMIS at the Island Shangri-La Hotel in Hong Kong where Naguiat was invited as one of the panelists during the breakout sessions. The forum was sponsored by HSBC, Standard Chartered Bank, UBS and Bloomberg.

The forum promoted the region as an investment haven. Among the highlighted Asian growth drivers are tourism and gaming, resources and energy, real estate, infrastructure, and consumer and retail.

Aside from Naguiat, the breakout session panel for tourism and gaming also included Lloyd Nathan, CEO of Asian Coast Development Ltd., which is developing the MGM Integrated Resort in Ho Tram, Vietnam; Aireen Omar, CEO of AirAsia Berhad; Dato Lee Choong Yan, president and COO Of Genting Malaysia Berhad; and Kingson Sian, president of Travellers International Hotel Group, which operates Resorts World Manila.

“That forum gave us a chance to present to the members of the investing community the growth areas in the Philippines. One of them is gaming, which is growing in acceptance as an important element of tourism. In fact, even our Department of Tourism has included it as a core product under leisure and entertainment,” Naguiat said.

The Pagcor chief said that in his presentation during the breakout session, he talked about the gaming landscape in the Philippines, its growth potential, the country’s rich tourist attractions and its strategic location to main markets.

“On the macro level, the Asia-Pacific is in exciting times for global travel. The Philippines is geographically gifted with respect to distances to the region’s most prolific travelers. And based on statistics, the country is being visited mainly for leisure and entertainment,” Naguiat said.

Travellers’ Sian supported Pagcor’s proposition, noting that based on his company’s experience in Resorts World Manila, “we are optimistic that we would do even better with the second property (in Entertainment City). This is the reason why we are already planning for the Resorts World Bayshore project.”

Four integrated resorts are being built by Pagcor together with four private proponents in the 100-hectare Entertainment City project. The resorts are expected to provide 5,000 hotel rooms that can accommodate up to a million tourists annually and also offer over a million square meters of shopping, gaming, hotel and entertainment.

“At full development, Entertainment City is expected to have the capacity to deliver up to US$10 billion annually in gaming revenues, as well as generate over 400,000 direct and indirect jobs. We are highly enthusiastic about this project and the impact that it will have on Philippine tourism,” Naguiat said.

Naguiat was asked during the forum if local players would be allowed to play in Entertainment City following the Singapore model. “We cannot prevent them from going there. We do not want to deprive them of the chance to see and experience the world-class entertainment that the integrated resorts will provide. However, we will make sure that regulation will be in place,” he said.

Only the Philippines and Vietnam have integrated resort projects in the pipeline among Southeast Asian nations, he added

...the Diablo III artist

3D artist of 'Diablo III' is Filipino

ABS-CBNnews.com

05/22/2012

 

 

MANILA, Philippines – A Filipino-American artist is part of the team behind hit action role-playing game “Diablo III.”

 

Richie Marella, a US-based artist who was born in the Philippines, is one of the 3D artists of the computer game.

Marella was featured in a video posted on the official YouTube page of “Diablo 3,” where he and other artists talked about the game.

“You’re going to really need to use your gems and your enchants (enhancements) to really boost up your defense just to survive and not get one-shotted,” he said in the video, which aimed to answer the question “How hard is this game going to be in Nightmare difficulty (and above)?”

“You really got to play as a team in the later difficulties,” he added.

Facebook user Ahyan Serul gave the tip about the Fil-Am artist to ABS-CBNnews.com on Monday, calling Morella “a pure-blooded Filipino we would always be proud of.”

Morella’s website, Sketchlab7, features his 3D artworks and sketches of mostly game characters. It also has links to his other pages on Facebook, Twitter, DeviantArt and Blogger.

On his DeviantArt page, where he uses the name “Wreckonning,” Marella said he visited the Philippines last April, a month before “Diablo III” was released.

“In the Philippines for a little vacation. It’s been almost 20 years since I’ve been back. It’s nice to be back home,” he said.

...the aspiring major gaming hub

Philippines can become ‘major’ gaming hub in region

 

Research firm sees revenues hitting $1.2B by 2015

 

By: Doris C. Dumlao
Philippine Daily Inquirer

Wednesday, December 7th, 2011

The Philippines has the potential to become a “major” gaming hub in the Asia-Pacific region and grow its gaming market to about $1.2 billion by 2015 as more privately run casinos start operations, a research by global professional services firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) said.

In a recent report, PwC estimated that casino gaming revenues in the Philippines fell by 5.9 percent in 2010 but were rebounding this 2011 to hit a full-year growth of 10.8 percent.

The report said the Philippines already had a “vibrant” casino gaming market and projected that new casinos would propel spending at a 16.9-percent compounded annual rate to $1.2 billion in 2015, making this country a major gaming area as well.

The casino gaming market in the Philippines last year was estimated by PwC at $558 million, which is ending this year at $618 million.

“The next five years will see Asia-Pacific emerge as the world’s leading region for casino gaming,” the PwC report said.

For Asia-Pacific as a whole, the report noted that casino gaming revenues would expand from $34.3 billion in 2010 to $79.3 billion in 2015 for an 18.3-percent compounded annual increase.

Macau is seen remaining as the largest casino gaming center in Asia-Pacific, growing at a compounded annual growth rate of 21.5 percent through 2015, outpacing Singapore’s growth rate of 20.5 percent compounded annually.

“The jewel in the crown of Asia-Pacific’s casino gaming industry is Macau, the largest single destination market in the world at $23.4 billion in 2010, more than twice the revenue of Nevada in the U.S.,” the report said.

Australia was a distant second with a $3.4-billion market in 2010, followed by Singapore at $2.8 billion and South Korea at $2.6 billion.

The report said Australia was facing increased competition in luring “high rollers” now that Singapore has become an established market.

In the Philippines, PwC noted that Belle Corp.’s planned complex in Manila Bay was expected to open in 2013, although the project has experienced a number of delays.

The research noted that the state-run Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. was the monopoly provider with the exception of the Cagayan Special Economic Zone, which issues its own casino licenses. Casinos in the Cagayan region are only open to foreigners, it added.

The Philippines is building an entertainment complex along Manila Bay, called Entertainment City, but has required casino licensees to invest heavily in hotel facilities prior to opening their casinos.