Travellers International Pumps Over US$1 Billion into the Philippines Gambling Sector

Travellers International Hotel Group is going full steam ahead in the Philippines. In recent announcements, the developer has stated it will hasten the development of Westside City Resort. Plus, it is planning to add two more casino resorts to its portfolio in the Philippines.

With a US$450 million injection into Westside City and an estimated US$700 in developing two more projects, it is safe to say, Travellers International wants to cement its place in the competitive Philippines landbased casino market.

Travellers International’s Landbased Casino Resorts

Established in 2008, Travellers International Hotel Group Inc, or TIHGI, is a joint venture between Alliance Global Group and Genting Group. The conglomerate was built to create a new standard for Philippine casino resorts, integrating AGI’s property development knowhow with Genting’s experience in gaming and leisure.

Travellers International is most well known for its flagship project: Newport World Resorts in Pasay City, which opened in 2009. It is among the largest casino resorts in the Philippines, and sits in the heart of Newport City, Manila. Newport World Resorts is close to Entertainment City in Parañaque, an area that has become “the Las Vegas” of the Philippines for its high concentration of top casino resorts. Clark County has also emerged as a top destination for gambling in the Philippines, with casino resorts opening in Mabalacat City, Angeles and the surrounding areas.

But so has Cebu Island, where the NuStar Resort and Waterfront Cebu City Hotel have flourished. Competition is high, with other privately owned resorts and locally run establishments. But that has not put off Travellers International, which is looking to finish its second casino resort in Entertainment City, and 2 more to its portfolio in the island destinations.

Timeline of the Key Announcements

The Westside City project has been on the books since 2019. The initial open date was slated for 2022, but the project was delayed several time. As for resorts outside the Manila area, Traveller International had its sights on smaller-scale expansions for a while now.

• July 29, 2025: Travellers states its interest in opening casino resorts on the islands of Boracay and Cebu
• September 10-14, 2025: Travellers and Suntrust commit up to US$450m to finish Westside City, setting a Q3 2026 opening target
• September 15-16, 2025: Travellers confirms two new integrated resorts in Cebu and Boracay

Westside City Integrated Resort

The Westside City resort will be situated in Entertainment City, on a reclaimed area along Manila Bay, near other major resorts. It will include a 2,500 room hotel across multiple brands, and a 450-room luxury hotel. A theatre, grand opera house, mall with retail and dining options, and several cinemas are also part of the project. Travellers International is a partner of the development, for which the main developer is Suntrust Resort Holdings. Travellers International confirmed it will inject a further $450 million to complete the project, which is currently 70% through the construction phase. The project, which is worth $1.1 billion, looks set to open in 2026.

As far as the casino is concerned, we know it will offer 280+ gaming tables, over 130 electronic gaming machines, and over 1,100 slots. Those figures are easily Las Vegas Strip sized proportions. However, if you were to run those numbers by any of the major Macau landbased casinos, it would fall in the mid-to-large category. We also know that Westside City Casino will have VIP experiences for high rollers, but just what those entail is yet to be revealed.

Cebu and Boracay Investments

Cebu already has a gambling scene, with NuStar, Waterfront Cebu, Casino Espanol de Cebu, and a handful of other venues for tourists and Philippine gamers. The Waterfront Cebu City Hotel & Casino has been around since 1998, but the majority of casinos on Cebu Island opened just in the past few years. It is definitely an up and coming area for the Philippine gambling sector. Travellers International is planning to open a casino in Mactan in Cebu, an island just off Cebu Island, where the Mactan-Cebu international airport is located.

The other location is the much smaller island of Boracay. Also called Bora, the resort island is famous for its beaches, and also for having the highest density of merchants accepting Bitcoin (outside El Salvador). The Boracay World Resorts casino will be smaller, in proportion to the size of the humble island.

Construction on the two resorts is set to begin in 2026, and the estimated cost of the two is around US$700 million. Though in terms of masterplan, casino floor parameters, and themes, no further announcements have been published. We only know they will be smaller, to fit in the more regional locations.

Current Situation of Landbased Gambling in the Philippines

Both the Cebu and Boracay are seen as strong efforts to bolster the Philippine casino revenue. The industry is definitely on the up and up. Integrated resorts, like Newport World Resorts, made PHP 93 billion in gross gaming revenue for the first half of 2025. For context, the entire Philippine Gaming GGR accumulated around PHP 215 billion, in that first half. That is over 40% of the entire Philippine Gaming GGR (including online casinos and all).

PACGOR, the Philippine gambling authority, is responsible for overseeing these developments. It is also responsible for governing the online iGaming market in the Philippines. The market is definitely gaining traction, attracting both Asian and Western gambling tourists. Macau will always be the biggest Asian gaming region. The Philippines is projected to close in on second place, which currently goes to Singapore.

Travellers International: The Plan

The strategy here is pretty straightforward and convincing. Westside City is in Manila’s high staking gaming district, and will remain Travellers’ flagship project next to Newport World Resorts. The project will compete against the likes of Okada Manila and Solaire Resort Entertainment City. As well as its partnered venue, Newport World Resorts.

The smaller scale resorts on Cebu and Boracay are strategically placed to catch the rising momentum in trendy tourist locations. Cebu has more of a concrete offering for gamers, with several landbased casinos. But Boracay is a new territory for gaming, and it has huge potential.

Westside City promises the scale and spectacle to rival Manila’s leading integrated resorts. Cebu and Boracay, on the other hand, offer more intimate but still full-service options. The blend of casinos, hotels, and entertainment is a testament to Travellers International’s vision for variety. It caters to both VIP high stakes gamers and casual tourists who may dip into some gaming during their stays.

While the broader market in the country is strengthening, the Philippines’ gaming sector is an industry on the rise. It may never catch Macau. But regulators are claiming the Philippines can overtake Singapore’s gambling scene. Still, there is no doubt the Philippines is offering itself as a worthy contender in the Asian gambling tourism market.