Philippine Casino Okada Manila Opens For Preview

Earlier this week the US$2.4-billion integrated resort Okada Manila in Philippines had a soft launch,even as work continues for its grand opening set for the first quarter of 2017.

Tiger Resort, Leisure and Entertainment Inc, a subsidiary of Universal Entertainment Inc developed the Okada Manila casino in Manila’s Entertainment City and is spread across 22 hectares.

Along with fireworks and a light show, a Christmas concert with top local artists was featured as part of the opening celebrations.

In a statement, Takahiro Usui chief operating officer Okada Manila said,

This Christmas preview concert marks the start of Okada Manila’s preview period which will last until the grand launch scheduled during the first quarter of 2017. Guests can expect more amenities and features to become available to the public in the coming months as we prepare for the spectacular grand opening.

Okada Manila

The facilities to be opened under phase one includes a hotel with nearly 1,000 rooms, several restaurants, a night club and retail stores. The casino floor measuring 26,000 sq. m. is expected to have 3,000 electronic gaming machines and up to 500 gaming tables. During the preview period the hotel and the restaurants will not be available but the casino will be open partially. Out of the planned 21 food and beverage outlets, two – Medley Buffet and Red Spice – offering Chinese cuisine will be the first to open.

Visitors will be able to sign up for the casino’s Reward Circle membership club. Okada Manila has said that its booking engine will also be operational soon. Japanese billionaire Kazuo Okada who owns Universal Entertainment has said that his company would be hiring nearly 20,000 Filipino citizens for the facility over the next two years. In the first phase nearly 8,000 to 10,000 jobs will be created.

Okada Manila was originally scheduled to open by March 2015 but the opening was later pushed back to Dec. 31, 2016. It aims to attract visitors primarily from China but also from other neighboring countries like Malaysia, Indonesia and India.

This is the third casino to open in Entertainment City which is the dedicated zone for private casinos in Manila. The other two casino resorts are the Solaire Resort operated by Bloomberry Resorts Corp and City of Dreams Manila owned by a unit of Macau operator Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd.

Okada has stated that he intends to list the Philippine subsidiary on the country’s stock exchange within a year’s time.