Tycoon Kevin Tan bares plans for two integrated casino resorts in Boracay and Cebu

September 12, 2024 Philippines Casino & Hotel

Mactan World Resorts in Cebu is slated to open in 2026; Boracay World Resorts being developed in AGI’s 150-hectare Boracay Newcoast township.

Alliance Global Group (AGI) is set to expand its leisure and tourism operations with two major integrated resort projects outside Manila. Kevin Tan, AGI’s President and CEO, announced that the company will invest approximately $400 million (P22.35 billion) in developing Mactan World Resorts in Cebu. Another project, Boracay World Resorts, will soon enhance tourism on the famed island of Boracay.

During his keynote address at the IAG Academy Summit held on September 11, 2024, Tan outlined the details of the Mactan World Resorts project. The development will be located within AGI’s 30-hectare Mactan Newtown township in Lapu-Lapu City. “Once completed, this gaming and leisure hub is expected to supply more than 5,000 new jobs to the residents of Lapu Lapu City and nearby cities in Cebu,” Tan was quoted as saying in a report published by IAG.

The Mactan World Resorts will feature a hotel, casino, villas, and various amenities. Construction is scheduled to begin in the first half of 2024, with the IR (integrated resort) targeting a grand opening by late 2026. “We already got our letter of no objection and we’re almost getting the license ready,” Tan noted.

The new resort will be strategically positioned across from the Mactan Expo, a convention center with a 2,500-seating capacity, and adjacent to two existing hotels. It will also boast its own beachfront, situated near the Shangri-La hotel.

Mactan World Resorts is a project of Travellers International Hotel Group Inc (TIHGI), a unit of Alliance Global Inc (AGI). This Cebu development will expand Travellers’ reach beyond Entertainment City in Metro Manila, where it operates the country’s first and largest IRs, Newport World Resorts.

Tan emphasized AGI’s focus on expanding beyond Metro Manila. “Even Clark is very competitive, but to go beyond that, to build facilities and to build infrastructure in new areas, prime new areas, I think that’s where the opportunity is,” he said.

In addition to the Cebu project, AGI is also developing Boracay World Resorts. This resort will be located within AGI’s 150-hectare Boracay Newcoast township. The development will complement existing amenities such as an 18-hole golf course and a 1-kilometer private beach. The new resort will offer villas and hotel suites, aiming to blend Boracay’s natural beauty with modern resort sophistication.

Tan envisions that the new integrated resort will have “its own free standing villas and hotel suites.”

In an earlier interview with IAG, the tycoon admitted, “We’re very excited about Boracay … that’s the next resort that we will probably be opening. We are already in the planning stages of that. It’s not going to be a massive property but I think it’s just right for the market there. It is situated in our flagship township, which is called Boracay Newcoast. It is the only resort on the Boracay island that has a golf course and it already comprises 10% of the entire Boracay Island.”

The son of billionaire Andrew Tan highlighted the strategic importance of these new ventures. “We are well situated in high traffic tourist areas or tourist destinations in the Philippines and that gives us tremendous opportunity to expand wherever we feel the market would need us.”