Since taking over as the head of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR), Andrea Domingo has been busy reaching out to organizations and tech firms throughout the world to attract them to the Philippines. Domingo was specifically chosen by the president of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte, to her new position, and recently she joined Stephanie Tower of CalvinAyre.com to discuss the G2E Asia @ Philippines.
Domingo explained that this event was an opportunity for the country to reach out to those in the gaming industry, as well as to welcome outsiders to come to the event. As she explained, “it’s not only about gaming, it’s entertainment.” She pointed out that only 7.5% of the total area of an integrated resort (IR) is the maximum an operator can devote to gambling, while 92.5% should go toward attracting tourists to the country.
Manila has wanted to ensure that they are one of the regular events for G2E, discussing what a dramatic impact that would have on the capital city of the Philippines. She explained:
“If you become one of the regular venues, then most of the people who are in the gaming industry would be coming here to look at the latest, the systems, the machines and also maybe to learn management and regulation of the gaming industry. So, I think it’s a very good event for us.”
This was also a big opportunity for people working at PAGCOR to make connections and learn about the newest innovations. “We would like all of our technical people and our management people to go to these conventions, but we just can’t afford it and government money will not allow it, so, if they come here, then all of our people who would need to know about slot machines, tables, etc., they can all go.”
While being open to large numbers of participants, Domingo explained that they would like to be more focused on other upcoming events. “We would limit it to just numbers, the biggest numbers that are there that are really prestigious and that people can go to and really benefit from the knowledge that will be learned from it.”
