Studies project that the country's gambling revenue of $1.9 billion will rise to $6 billion, which is currently what Singapore's two casinos generate, in about five years, said Michael French, chief operating officer of the Solaire Resort and Casino.
Solaire will open on Saturday as one the country's biggest hotel-casino complexes in ceremonies to be attended by President Benigno Aquino III, who is targeting 10 million tourists by 2016.
It has 500 hotel rooms, 1,200 slot machines and 295 gaming tables, including those in private rooms with a view of Manila Bay for high rollers. It has eight restaurants, a spa, a night club, and will have a 1,800-seat Broadway-type theater, French said.
It is the first of four such developments in the $4 billion Entertainment City being built on a 100-hectare (247-acre) property reclaimed from Manila Bay. The flagship of Bloomberry Resorts Corp. is majority owned by one of the Philippines' wealthiest men, container ports operator Enrique Razon.
The Entertainment City development is potential employment and economic bonanza for the Philippines. Its reputation as a tourist destination has been tarnished by reports of crime, including kidnappings, alongside insurgent violence and the operation of a notorious militant Islamic group in the country's south.
