Tan, the president and CEO of Alliance Global Group, revealed these plans in a recent interview with the gaming-focused publication Inside Asian Gaming.
“We’re very excited about Boracay. In fact, that’s probably the next resort we will be opening,” he said.
“We’re already in the planning stages of that, and we’re about to start,” he added.
Big picture
AGI owns Travellers International Hotel Group, the developer of Newport World Resorts, one of the biggest integrated casinos in the capital district.
But during the interview, Tan said the gaming sector was getting “saturated” in Metro Manila, which is also home to the Entertainment City casino complex along the bay.
“I think the opportunity for growth in this sector will be to open outside Metro Manila. I think Metro Manila is quite saturated already, and it’s quite competitive,” Tan told IAG.
“I think even Clark is quite competitive but to go beyond that to build facilities, to build infrastructure, in new areas I think that’s where the opportunity is,” he added.
Last August, InsiderPH reported that Tan is planning to open a P17 billion casino project in its Mactan Newtown project in Cebu.
Boracay project
Travellers is still pursuing a casino license for its Cebu project but already holds a provincial license for Boracay, according to the state-run regulator Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor).
Tan said the planned Boracay casino will be a modest-sized facility “that’s just right for the market there.”
“[W]e’re not building a large-scale integrated resort. We’re building a relatively medium-scale one, a boutique one if you want to call that,” Tan said.
“It’s going to be a very sustainable design,” he said. “We want to preserve how the island is so pristine right now.”
Boracay Newcoast, which occupies about 10 percent of Boracay island, also features a golf course, over 1,500 room keys, and villas.
Miguel R. Camus has been a reporter covering various domestic business topics since 2009.
