CEBU CITY — Gokongwei-led NUSTAR Resort and Casino wants to lure gaming enthusiasts and tourists from the Visayas, Mindanao as well as neighboring Southeast Asian countries to elevate the province of Cebu as a top-of-mind luxury lifestyle hub.
The P30-billion investment in this homegrown yet world-class integrated resort (IR) in Cebu is also ready to compete with more touristy destinations in the region like Singapore and Thailand, where casinos and IRs are looking to expand and take root, respectively.
NUSTAR senior vice president for gaming and IR operations Trevor Hammond told reporters on Friday, Oct. 25, that in just two years since opening in 2022, their casino operations are already the sixth biggest in the country, after the four much-older casinos in Metro Manila and Hann Resorts in Clark—all in Luzon island.
While he declined to provide specific figures, Hammond said it speaks volumes that a relatively new casino ranked high in a competitive industry not only locally but also globally.
"NUSTAR is hot on their heels," Hammond pointed out.
NUSTAR already attracts affluent guests from neighboring Visayas and Mindanao provinces, and Hammond is likewise aware of the potential gains that visitors and players from Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam can bring not only to their IR, but also to Cebu as a whole.
Hammond said they want NUSTAR to be synonymous with Cebu—a beautiful island that can be enjoyed at a slower pace than city life and where entertainment, shopping and water activities to soak in the surrounding seas converge.
For Hammond, NUSTAR provides the total experience complementing Cebu—gaming, luxury and shopping.
As IRs in Singapore like Marina Bay Sands are expanding operations, and Thailand— the most-visited country in Southeast Asia by foreigners from across the globe—is reportedly opening up to casinos, NUSTAR's top executives believe that Cebu and the Philippines in general have advantages to not only stand out but also be part of multi-destination players.
NUSTAR Resort Cebu general manager for hotels Roel Constantino said NUSTAR actually stands to benefit from a more robust gaming sector across Southeast Asia, as it can offer unique experiences to be complemented by the region's other casinos and IRs.
At present, 50 percent of NUSTAR's customers are from the mass market, mostly Filipinos and some South Koreans who love to visit Cebu, Hammond noted.
For the other half of the clientele who belonged to the more affluent segment, Filipino-Chinese and South Koreans account for 40 percent each, while the remainder are locals and some Japanese players, he added.
NUSTAR assistant vice president for business development and resort marketing Katrina Mae De Jesus said it helps that 30 percent of direct international flights to and from Cebu connect to South Korea, their biggest foreign market to date.
Thus, from merely 40 tables and 400 slot machines when it opened in May 2022, Hammond disclosed that NUSTAR now has a total of 21,000 square meters (sqm) of gaming space, and it's even with ripe opportunities to expand to three more levels on the fifth to seventh floors.
The current eight private gaming rooms for junket operators on the second floor can also be further expanded, Hammond said.
As such, homegrown hospitality brand Fili of the Gokongwei Group, the lone operating hotel adjacent to NUSTAR to date, is enjoying occupancy "above" the 57-percent average in Cebu City, the 54 percent among luxury hotels in the country, the 55-percent average hotel occupancy nationwide, as well as the 52 percent in hotels outside Metro Manila, Constantino shared, as comparison.
Soon to be added to Fili's 379 hotel rooms as well as its convention center are 223 rooms in the NUSTAR-eponymously named hotel, which would have its soft opening by December or before this year ends, Constantino disclosed.
These two hotels will reinforce the IR's luxurious experiences—Fili is the only Filipino-branded hotel regarded as a "five-star" that provides the well-known Pinoy-style service culture, while the soon-to-open NUSTAR Hotel shall be a bigger facility with a global feel, with suites extending full-service privileges to members.
On top of the "ultra-luxury" to be provided by NUSTAR Hotel, the existing Robinsons hotel brand Grand Summit will bring to a total of 985 the combined room capacity—the biggest in Cebu—of those three hotels that are poised to surround NUSTAR by early 2027, Constantino said.
The three hotels—all homegrown brands—shall also complement NUSTAR's convention and events facilities, which already host Cebu's who's who and the island-province's most-attended conferences.
Beyond Cebu, NUSTAR is open to expand to Luzon, where established casinos and IRs are still lording it over.
NUSTAR is not closing its doors "if the opportunity presents itself to grow our footprint across the Philippines," Hammond said, adding that "Luzon is where the critical mass is" for land-based gaming, especially the former American military base turned industrial zone Clark Freeport.
On top of physical casinos, NUSTAR also ventured into electronic gaming this year, through Play Maxx.
This newest e-gaming playground is being eyed to account for 20 to 30 percent of NUSTAR's gaming business moving forward, Hammond said.