Philippine casinos generated a total of PHP34.2 billion in gross gaming revenue for the third quarter of the year, PAGCOR, the country’s gambling regulator, said earlier today. The reported figure reflected a 12.4% increase from the same three months of 2015.
Gross gaming revenue for the nine months ended September 30, 2016 totaled PHP99.8 billion, up almost 20% from the prior-year period.
The three integrated hotel and casino resorts operating in the Philippine capital, Manila, were the biggest revenue contributors during this year’s third quarter. The properties generated a total of PHP22.6 billion in gross gaming revenue, representing a 19.8% increase from the amount of PHP18.9 billion reported for the same three months of 2015.
City of Dreams Manila, owned by Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd., Solaire Resort and Casino, operated by Bloomberry Resorts Corp., and Resorts World Manila, managed by Travellers International Hotel Group Inc., are the three casino resorts currently operating in the Philippine capital. Manila’s skyline will soon be adorned by another luxury hotel and casino complex – Okada Manila, a multi-billion-dollar development sponsored by Japanese gaming tycoon Kazuo Okada and his Universal Entertainment Corp.
Okada Manila is set for a late December opening after multiple construction delays. Phase 1 of the resort will be launched to include a casino, hotel towers, and numerous food and beverage options and attractions for visitors. This initial phase will be occupying 22 hectares of land or half of the plot projected for the whole resort.
A fifth hotel and casino complex – Resorts World Bayshore – is expected to open doors in Manila sometime in 2018.
Revenue from land-based casino operations was clearly on the rise, but online gambling operators had really hard time during this year’s third quarter. Since the beginning of President Rodrigo Duterte’s term on June 30, 2016, the country’s top official declared war on Internet gambling as part of a general crackdown on crime and corruption.
As a result, PhilWeb Corp., one of the Philippine’s biggest operators of online gaming cafés around the country, had its license revoked. Hundreds of facilities offering iGaming options were shattered afterwards.
Earlier this month, President Duterte said that he would ease his clampdown on illegal gambling activities not because he wanted to but because he did not have the necessary resources and manpower to fight such a deeply-rooted problem.
