Landing International is expecting to obtain regulatory approval for its proposed Paranaque City IR sometime in the second half of the year.
“We’ve submitted our application and are in the midst of processing…. We hope that it will be with the next few months,” said Mr. Lee, speaking to AGB in an exclusive interview on Wednesday.
“We are looking to groundbreak the resort in the second half of the year, and we hope to have the approvals by then.”
Mr. Lee said the resort will “easily” three years to build, meaning if all goes to plan, the resort will open sometime in the second half of 2021.
Mr. Lee said Landing's new integrated resort in Paranaque will be the new "gateway" to Entertainment City in Manila.
The IR is planned as a "family-oriented" resort, with several indoor theme parks, a casino, a convention centre, retail and dining areas, and a luxury hotel.
Mr. Lee drew attention to the movie-based theme park, which he believes will be a particular draw for regional visitors.
"I can't disclose the party we are working with for the theme park element at this stage, but it is going be an indoor movie-based theme park and that will be the first for this group and perhaps this part of the world… That by itself will pull regional traffic to Manila.”
When asked about visitor expectations, Mr. Lee said he would expect around 66 percent of visitors to come from the Philippines’ local mass market, with the rest made up of international visitors. He said he expects a large portion of international visitors to come from South Korea, but noted that Chinese mass presents the most long-term growth potential.
"You can't underestimate the local domestic market… Philippines in general is still a very family oriented society… It will be a significant component,” he said.
With respect to the gaming facilities, Mr. Lee said they will have a casino, and also plan to have a VIP gaming area, utilizing junkets to drive VIP traffic.
When asked about new projects in the horizon, Mr. Lee said the company is currently most interested in Japan, Manila and Vietnam, but noted that Japan still has a long way to go.
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