Travellers International sees rapid growth this year

MANILA, Philippines - Travellers International Hotel Group Inc., a joint venture between tycoon Andrew Tan’s Alliance Global Group Inc. and Genting Hong Kong Ltd., is expected to sustain its rapid growth and strong profitability with net earnings seen to double to P6.4 billion this year.

“We will double the P3.2 billion we made last year,” said Kingson Sian, president of Travellers International, which operates the eight-hectare tourism hub Resorts World Manila in Pasay.

Sian said Resorts World attracts a daily foot traffic of 15,000 people and sees this figure continuing to rise as consumers are beginning to spend more at casinos on gambling and casino operators are reining in promotions.

He said the emergence of a prosperous middle class with considerable income has benefited the casino/gaming industry in Asia-Pacific.

By next year, foot traffic is forecast to increase to 25,000 a day, 40 percent of which are foreigners mostly from neighboring Asian countries, Sian said.

He said Asia is offering many opportunities for the gambling industry.

With Macau to remain the global leader and robust growth in the rest of the region, casino gaming in Asia-Pacific is expected to expand almost three-fold to $62.9 billion in 2014 from $21.8 billion last year, according to financial consultancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers.

PricewaterhouseCoopers projected that Singapore, which is known as a safe haven for tourists in Southeast Asia, could overtake Korea and Australia this year to become the second-largest Asia-Pacific casino market behind traditional leader Macau.

Macau is expected to remain the world’s top gaming hub with its more than three dozens casinos, having earned $23.5 billion last year. It, however, faces several problems that could affect its continued growth like a labor shortage and lack of infrastructure, as well as government cap on the number of new gaming tables until 2013.

To ensure continued growth and attract a much wider clientele, Sian said new developments would continue to rise at Resorts World Manila. Among these are a state-of-the-art convention center which will rise on a 1.2-hectare property and another five-star hotel that will house 1,200 rooms.

Sian said the convention center would be the biggest in the country when completed in 2013.

Travellers International is investing at least $1.1 billion in developing two Resort World projects in Manila in the next five years.