The governments of the Philippines and South Korea have decided to increase weekly air service between their two capital cities, which is likely to assist Manila's casinos.
A memorandum of understanding was last week signed by aviation government officials from the two Asian nations, increasing the weekly seat capacity from 20,000 seats each way from Manila Ninoy Aquino International and Seoul Incheon International to 30,000 seats. The deal increases travel by passengers to and from the capital metropolises, which are some of the most populous in the world.
There are over 13 million people living in the Manila metro area, compared to about 25.5 million in Seoul.
Both Manila and Incheon are commercial casino markets; however, only foreigners are permitted to enter the casinos at Incheon International. Both local and foreign visitors are accepted at Manila's Entertainment City casinos, which include Okada, City of Dreams, Solaire, and Newport Resorts World.
Philippines Taking Advantage of the Travel Boom
After COVID-19, the gaming sector in the Philippines has not stopped expanding. Pent-up demand that surged during the epidemic and China's crackdown on junket groups, which had been the lifeblood of Macau's VIP high roller rooms for decades, have both helped the country in Southeast Asia.
The elite of mainland China was the target audience for those junkets, but they have since shifted their operations to countries with better operating conditions, such as the Philippines. Numerous tour operators have also gone to other wealthy Asian nations like South Korea, where gambling is either completely prohibited or subject to severe regulations.
According to the Philippines Department of Tourism, South Korea has served as the nation's main source of international tourists entering the archipelago this year. According to reports, from January to June, the Philippines welcomed approximately 793K Korean visitors, or 28% of all foreign visitors to the nation.
Analysts claim that a large number of those Koreans choose to remain and play in Entertainment City because it offers a better experience than Kangwon Land, the only isolated casino resort in South Korea where Koreans are permitted to gamble.
"The increase in capacity will be felt by the market once airlines take advantage of the opportunity to carry more passenger traffic between the capital cities of the two countries,” the Philippines Department of Transportation said in a release.
With around 56.2 million passengers last year, Incheon was just slightly behind Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas as the 20th busiest airport. Several casino resorts can be found within the Incheon airport complex. Mohegan Inspire, an integrated resort valued at $1.6 billion, is the most recent addition.
Travel Strengthens the Economy
Since 2017, a weekly seat count of 20,000 passengers has been enforced between the capital airports of the Philippines and South Korea by the respective governments. Ever since the world recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic, airlines have reported demand exceeding capacity. Between the other airports in the country, there are no airline seat limits.
According to Philippine government authorities, the country's government is benefiting from the flood of tourists from South Korea. Additionally benefiting are casinos.
The nation anticipates that gross gaming revenue (GGR) will hit a record $6.1 billion this year. $5.1 billion in gross gaming revenue (GGR) was produced by Filipino casinos in 2021, as well as those owned and run by the nation through its Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation.
In the upcoming years, PAGCOR intends to divest its state-owned casinos and become a regulatory-only operator.