By Iris C. Gonzales (The Philippine
Star) | Updated August 1, 2015 - 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines - Parañaque City
is aiming to be the country’s top tourist and entertainment destination with
the rise of numerous world-class hotel resorts and leisure facilities in the
area, its top executive said.
Mayor Edwin Olivarez said Parañaque
will now be called “Bay City,” a new label that aims to transform the city into
a tourist-friendly place.
“We are confident that our new
nickname, the Bay City, will make Parañaque not only the country’s top tourist
and entertainment destination but also one of the best in the whole
Asia-Pacific region as well,” he said.
He attributed Parañaque’s economic
surge partly to huge developments in Pagcor Entertainment City, a 100-hectare
mixed-use complex along Manila Bay that features world-class casinos, hotels,
shopping and leisure destinations, theaters and marinas, among others.
The sprawling Entertainment City has
been attracting more investors eager to take advantage of increasing tourist
traffic, both domestic and international.
Last year, Parañaque was adjudged the
country’s most competitive city in terms of economic dynamism by the National
Competitiveness Council (NCC). Just recently, the council declared the city
among the top three most economically dynamic urbanized cities in the
Philippines, Olivarez said.
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In terms of business registration,
Olivarez said there has been a substantial increase in the number of new
business registration last year, reaching 2,325, while renewal was at 17,122
for a total of 19,447 business establishments operating in the city.
At the Entertainment City, the first
to open was Solaire Resorts and Casino, followed by City of Dreams Manila.
Two others are in the advanced
construction stages, namely Aseana City and the Manila Bay Resorts, a
44-hectare integrated casino-resort project composed of an indoor beach club,
entertainment facilities, retain and restaurants.
Olivarez said property giant Ayala
Land Inc. would also build a huge shopping mall complex, a business process
outsourcing center and a hotel within a nine-hectare property adjacent to
Pagcor Entertainment City.
The property is located right across
the new City of Dreams Manila, a casino and hotel complex owned by the SM Group
in partnership with Melco Crown of Macau.
Furthermore, according to Olivarez,
they are also expecting to generate new jobs and higher tax collection in the
BPO sector as three SM malls in Parañaque – SM Sucat, SM Bicutan and SM BF
Homes – are all planning to open BPO centers that would need 5,000 workers
each.
He added aside from the hectic pace of
development at Entertainment City, other major infrastructure projects that
will complement the tourism destination are also underway, including NAIA
Skyway Phase 2 and the extension of the LRT Line 1 to Cavite.
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