Travellers International Hotel Group, the joint venture between Andrew Tan’s Alliance Global Group and Malaysian conglomerate Genting that operates Resorts World Manila in the Philippines, has received approval from the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp (Pagcor) to expand its gambling portfolio in RWM. The country’s first integrated resort and casino sought the expansion in order to combat the rising threat of the new resort casinos in Entertainment City.
Travellers made the disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Monday, saying it would add 420 gaming tables and 4,148 gaming machines on top of the 287 gaming tables, 1,822 slot machines and 210 electronic table games it already has inside Resorts World Manila.
Resorts World Manila opened in 2010 to great fanfare, becoming the first and only integrated resort and casino in Metro Manila. All that changed when Bloomberry Resorts’ Solaire Resort & Casino opened in March last year at Entertainment City. With Melco Crown’s City of Dreams Manila expected to open later this year, RWM needed to up its game. The Tan/Genting joint venture will open its own Entertainment City project, Resorts World Bayshore, next year.
Travelers is also expanding both the Maxims and Marriott hotels, as well as beginning construction on two new luxury hotels: Hilton Manila and Sheraton Hotel Manila. Once completed, the new digs will add another 1,100 hotel rooms to Resorts World Manila’s offering.
