Japanese gaming tycoon Kazuo Okada is planning to invest a total of $4 billion in Okada Manila (re-branded from Manila Bay Resorts) – the third integrated casino resort to open doors as part of the larger Entertainment City project in the heart of the Philippine capital.
The expensive complex is slated to have a soft opening in November. As other projects of this type and scale, this one, too, will be rolled out in several phases. Investment in Okada Manila’s Phase One may reach $3 billion.
Mr. Okada, whose Universal Entertainment Corp. and Philippine subsidiary Tiger Resort Leisure and Entertainment Inc. are behind the multi-billion-dollar casino complex, aims at raising the bar for the provision of gambling experience to customers from the Asia-Pacific region and the rest of the world.
Okada Manila will feature a casino floor with 500 gaming tables and more than 3,000 slot machines. It will be the largest integrated resort to open doors in the Philippines, spreading over a 44-hectare area. As mentioned above, the complex is part of a major project introduced by the country’s government several years ago.
The 120-hectare Entertainment City will be home to a total of four such integrated hotel and casino resorts. Two of them – Solaire Resort and Casino and City of Dreams Manila, have already opened doors. Mr. Okada’s complex is to have a soft opening in November. The fourth resort – Resorts World Bayshore, is likely to be launched towards the end of 2020.
Phase One of Okada Manila will also feature a Y-shaped hotel building with two wings – the Pearl and the Coral, with both of them providing visitors with excellent view of Manila Bay. The two wings will have 15 floors each and will offer a total of 993 luxury hotel rooms.
A dancing fountain, installed at the heart of the resort, will be yet another interesting feature. A glass dome entertainment facility will provides visitors of the resort with various entertainment and dining options. Among other features, the complex will also have the largest indoor beach with real white sand in Southeast Asia.
Commenting on the latest details released regarding the expensive project, Tiger Resort COO Takahiro Usui told media that Mr. Okada aims at building a complex that would be able to complete with what is currently offered in Macau and other parts of Asia.
With Chinese high rollers abandoning Macau due to the ongoing anti-corruption campaign in Mainland China, they will likely turn into one of the customer groups to be targeted by Okada Manila and the other integrated resorts in Entertainment City. And given the investment put into all four complexes, Manila and the Philippines have real chances to turn into Asia’s next gambling mecca.
Businessman Antonio Cojuangco, Mr. Okada’s Philippine partner, said that they have been eyeing expansion in other parts of the country. There have been talks about potential sites in Palawan and Davao.
