Melco ups ante in casino, tourism venture in PH

The group of tycoon Henry Sy and the Melco Crown group of Macau unveiled Wednesday a $1.3-billion integrated tourism and gaming venture at Pagcor Entertainment City—an estate rebranded as “City of Dreams Manila,” which is expected to open by the middle of next year.

The consortium has upgraded capital spending on the project, previously called the “Belle Grande,” to strengthen its bid to attract gaming patrons from mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau.

Melco Crown co-chairs Lawrence Ho and James Packer flew in Wednesday to attend the ceremonies for the rebranding of the gaming complex. In a briefing after the program, Ho said the Melco group would have to “do additional things” to attract gaming patrons from the region.

For the first phase of the project, Ho said Melco had increased its budget for the project to $680 million from $620 million.

“City of Dreams Manila will herald a new era of entertainment in Manila and will provide visitors with an exceptional world-class gaming and entertainment experience, delivering international standards of retail, food and beverage and hotel amenities, together with diverse and innovative lifestyle and entertainment offerings. I am confident that City of Dreams Manila will be the pride of the leisure and entertainment industry here in the Philippines,” Ho said.

Ho also announced the entry of luxury hotel brand Crown Towers, which was co-founded by his business partner, Packer, as the first hotel brand to operate in this hub. Crown Towers will manage about 260 hotel rooms in the Philippines.