Cagayan casinos are opening their doors to Filipinos for the first time in their history amid rumors that the resort has seen a decline in visitor numbers. For now the only people allowed to visit casinos will be those staying at hotels in the resort that is home to two casinos complexes – the Cagayan (formerly Sun City) Holiday and Lqisure Resorts and Eastern Hawaii Casinos. The Cagayan Special Economic Zone and Freeport’s (CSEZF) officer in charge, Julian Jovy Gonzales, commented, “Only [Filipino] tourists who were allowed to stay at the hotels are given special passes to play at the casinos, to give them added leisure activities during their stay here.”
First Cagayan Leisure and Resort Corp (First Cagayan) licenses operators for the casinos and is one of the most reputable online gambling industry licensors in the whole of Asia. It means that the Philippines is the centre for the online gambling industry on the continent and will continue to be a hub for the industry for many years. The big man visited the resort last year and recorded it all for your viewing pleasure (and to make all of us just that little bit more jealous). You can see videos of the magnificent resort here and here.
Further south in Manila, the country’s gambling industry regulator revealed more details on the city’s latest gaming, leisure and entertainment complex. Three of the four licensees have already agreed to invest $1billion over five years and discussions with a fourth company “are still ongoing.” Genting Malaysia, property developer Belle and Bloombury Investments are the first three companies to confirm involvement with Melco Crown Entertainment confirmed as the fourth. Chairman of Philippine Amusement and Gaming, Cristino Naguiat commented that the joint venture between James Packer and Laurence Ho are “serious” about investing in the resort.
