Buoyed by the surge of tourist arrivals in the Philippines and upbeat forecasts for the country’s tourism industry, Resorts World Manila (RWM) will increase its capital expenditure to double its casino capacity, according to a report by the South China Morning Post (SCMP), a Hong Kong-based daily.
Alliance Global Group, the conglomerate behind the RWM, is expecting a 15 percent increase in profit after the expansion. The group is also eyeing to increase sales in premium alcohol products and gaming services.
According to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), tourist arrivals in the Philippines rose by 7.7 percent in 2018 compared to the previous year. That translated to 7.1 million visitors in the country.
The top visitors in the country were Koreans, who comprised 1.58 million visitors, followed by the Chinese at 1.25 million visitors, and Americans with 1.03 million visitors. Japanese visitors were the fourth largest at 631,801.
Philippine Economy “Quite Strong”
Kevin Tan, chief executive officer of Alliance Global, said that he is optimistic about his company’s growth, thanks to the robust Philippine economy. “Fundamentally, the Philippine economy is quite strong and consumption is also quite high,” Tan said in the SCMP report. “We will see a lot of our businesses thriving in this kind of environment."
Aside from plans of expanding Resorts World Manila, Alliance Global is also targeting to open its second resort in Manila by 2021. Westside City, which will be the group’s second casino, is expected to boost the conglomerate’s gaming profits by 20 to 50 percent over five years.
“The next five years will be very exciting,” Tan said in the report. “I am very confident about how well Travellers will do and how much contribution it will have to our overall top line. Westside will easily double our capacity,” said Tan, referring to Travellers International Hotel Group, the gaming unit that built RWM.
