AGI plans to start building $400-M Cebu casino next year
Alliance Global Group Inc. (AGI) may start building its $400-million casino resort complex in Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu province next year as the listed holding company widens its footprint in one of the country’s top tourist destinations.
AGI president and CEO Kevin Tan confirmed on Tuesday that they were in the process of getting a gaming license from the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. after securing a letter of no objection from the local government.
Once AGI, through leisure and tourism arm Travellers International Hotel Group Inc. (THGI), gets its license, construction will begin early next year in time for commercial operations at the end of 2026, Tan told reporters on the sidelines of the Inside Asian Gaming Academy Summit in Pasay City.
He added that the casino resort complex would stand within real estate subsidiary Megaworld Corp.’s 30-hectare The Mactan Newtown township near Mactan-Cebu International Airport, the country’s second-largest gateway.
The project will have a gaming area on two floors, along with food-and-beverage outlet stores, villas, a five-star hotel and a beachfront, according to Tan.
“The beautiful thing about it is it will be across our convention center, the Mactan Expo,” Tan said, referring to his company’s recently opened P1.5-billion project.
While Boracay Island remains the top tourist destination in the Philippines, other provinces such as Cebu are beginning to overtake it in terms of interest from hotel investors.
Real estate brokerage firm Leechiu Property Consultants previously reported that Cebu City ranked third in the country in terms of investment interest after Bohol (first) and Metro Manila (second). Boracay was sixth.
Mactan Island’s “strategic location” in Cebu also made it the fifth most attractive area in the country for investors, Leechiu found.
AGI’s project will join other developments on the island, including Dusit Thani, Sheraton and Shangri-La.
