Manilla Expects Casino Boom

The rising affluence in China is having positive repercussions for gambling in the Philippines and the numbers are in to prove it.

A gambling bonanza awaits
The first privately run casino resort - Resorts World Casino in Manila - has partially opened. And if the reception is anything to go by, then the region is set to undergo a massive gambling boom.

Industry fundis are smiling all the way to bank as revenues continue to pour in. This positive news comes in spite of the biting global recession that has seen consumer spending dramatically curtailed.

It appears a sound bet that the casino industry is resilient to the ill-effects of the credit crunch in Asia. This is due - in no small part - to the wealth of jobs being created by the booming industry.

It has been noted that revenues at more than a dozen Philippine casinos run by the state-owned gambling group, Pagcor, are at monthly record highs.

Gambling tourists set to fly in
With the Resorts World Casino complex located near the new international airport, the air traffic is bound to bring in the tourists and their dollars.

It is expected that the completed casino will offer over 1,000 slot machines and some 300 gaming tables. The complex will also house a 342-room Marriott Hotel replete with all the usual trappings and luxuries.

But the Philippines is not content to sit on its hands. The island nation is planning a multi-billion dollar Las Vegas-style strip called Entertainment City in 2010. The owners are expecting an increase in tourist arrivals of 12 million people.

Investors are clearly of the opinion that the Philippine islands are a gambling safe-haven and they are all-too-eager to pump billions into developing the industry in the region.