Posted on June 13, 2014 07:31:36 PM [
BusinessWorld Online ]
Travellers International Hotel Group
Inc. plans to invest $650 million for the expansion of Resorts World Manila,
the first integrated resort and casino in the Philippines.
Travellers, a joint venture between
Andrew L. Tan’s Alliance Global Group Inc. and Genting Hong Kong Ltd., made the
announcement at its annual shareholder meeting in Pasay City yesterday.
“The company has set aside P9 billion
in 2014 alone to fund the phase 2 and 3 of the project. We’re quite
well-capitalized and there’s no need to raise capital,” Travellers President
Kingson U. Sian said.
The second phase involves the
establishment of the 2,000-seat Marriott Grand Ballroom, which is expected to
be the largest ballroom in the country, as well as an additional 227 rooms in
the hotel’s West Wing.
The ballroom and the West Wing will be
operational by the first quarter of 2015 and end of 2015, respectively.
Resorts World, which houses three
hotels -- Maxims Hotel, Remington Hotel and Marriott Hotel, will create two
more in phase 3 -- the Hilton Manila and the Sheraton Hotel Manila, and also
expand Maxims by an additional 877 rooms.
Resorts World is across the street
from the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3. Five airlines
will be transferring their Manila operations to Terminal 3 in August --
Singapore Airlines Ltd, Delta Air Lines Inc, The Emirates Group’s Emirates
airline, Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd, and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines NV --
increasing potential foot traffic in the area.
The third phase, which is set to be
completed by 2017, will also include a new gaming area, additional retail space
and six basement parking decks.
“We will be doubling our casino space
with this project,” Travellers International Chairman and Chief Executive
Officer David Chua told reporters on the sidelines of the shareholder meeting
yesterday.
Mr. Sian said currently total of over
2,000 slot machines and 420 gaming tables will be doubled by 2017.
He added also said a redevelopment of
the car park will someday make up “phase 4,” but he did not provide further
details.
Asked about the impact of other
integrated resort and casino facilities at Bagong Nayong Pilipino Entertainment
City of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp., Mr. Sian said: “Competition
makes everybody better because you keep on leveling up.”
The other integrated resort projects
are Solaire Resort & Casino of Bloomberry Resorts Corp.; City of Dreams
Manila of Melco Crown (Philippines) Resorts Corp.; The Manila Bay Resorts of
Tiger Resorts and Entertainment, Inc., a unit of Japan’s Universal Entertainment
Corp.; and Resorts World Bayshore of Westin Starwood Hotels & Resorts.
Travellers began trading on the
Philippine Stock Exchange in November.
Travellers’ first quarter net income
rose 73% from a year earlier to P1.72 billion, while gross revenue dropped
22.3% to P8 billion.
The company’s shares closed at P9.22
yesterday, up 0.99%. -- Daphne Magturo
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