{"id":777037076,"date":"2026-01-22T10:57:27","date_gmt":"2026-01-22T13:57:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/?p=777037076"},"modified":"2026-04-21T15:06:06","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T18:06:06","slug":"visa-free-entry-for-chinese-tourists-seen-as-catalyst-for-manilas-entertainment-city","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/visa-free-entry-for-chinese-tourists-seen-as-catalyst-for-manilas-entertainment-city","title":{"rendered":"Visa-free entry for Chinese tourists seen as catalyst for Manila’s Entertainment City"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Maybank says the Philippines\u2019 new visa waiver could help revive Chinese VIP traffic to Manila\u2019s casino hub.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

The Philippines.- Maybank Securities predicts that the decision to allow visa-free entry to the Philippines for Chinese nationals will support a revival of casino resorts in Entertainment City, Manila\u2019s main integrated resort hub. A decline in Chinese visitation weighed heavily on gaming performance in 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under the new policy, which took effect on January 16, Chinese tourists can enter the Philippines without a visa for stays of up to 14 days. The move by the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is aimed at boosting trade, investment and inbound tourism. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybank analysts view the measure as a positive development for land-based casino operators, particularly those with significant exposure to Chinese VIP players. In a research note focused on Bloomberry Resorts Corp, analyst Raffy Mendoza <\/strong>said the visa waiver should benefit Entertainment City operators such as Solaire Resort & Casino but that \u201cany meaningful recovery in gaming activity is likely to take several quarters<\/strong>.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The analyst estimates that in the first nine months of 2025, roughly 30 per cent of Solaire Manila\u2019s gross gaming revenue (GGR) came from Greater China. Entertainment City\u2019s combined GGR fell 15 per cent year-on-year to PHP99.4bn (US$1.68bn) in the first three quarters of 2025, partly due to a sharp reduction in fly-in VIP play. At Bloomberry\u2019s Solaire Entertainment City property, VIP GGR dropped by around 50 per cent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybank said VIP GGR at Solaire could be up to 50 per cent higher this year. In its base-case scenario, it expects a more modest, gradual improvement, with VIP volumes recovering over several quarters rather than immediately.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n\t\t\tSee also:<\/span><\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\tSee also:<\/span> Hann Casino and PhilWeb seal online gaming partnership<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Maybank says the Philippines\u2019 new visa waiver could help revive Chinese VIP traffic to Manila\u2019s casino hub.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":680,"featured_media":16268,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"Maybank Securities predicts the Philippines' new visa-free entry policy for Chinese nationals will support a gradual revival of VIP gaming traffic to Manila's Entertainment City. This measure, effective January 16, aims to boost tourism and is seen as a positive development for land-based casino operators like Bloomberry Resorts Corp, which experienced significant VIP GGR declines in 2025. While a full recovery is anticipated over several quarters, the policy is expected to mitigate previous performance headwinds.","focusai_entities":"Maybank Securities, Bloomberry Resorts Corp, Solaire Resort & Casino, Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Raffy Mendoza","focusai_location":"Philippines, Manila, Entertainment City, Greater China","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.9), regulator (0.7), operator_casino (1.0), marketing_crm (0.7), investor_analyst (1.0), supplier_vendor (0.7), journalist_researcher (0.9)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"VIP GGR Trajectory","query":"What specific market indicators, beyond initial visitation numbers, will Maybank and other analysts be monitoring to confirm a sustained, rather than transient, recovery in high-margin VIP GGR for Entertainment City operators?"},{"label":"Policy Impact Assessment","query":"How does the 14-day visa-free stay compare to pre-pandemic Chinese visitation patterns and visa policies, and what are the potential limitations or further policy adjustments required to fully restore the VIP segment's historical contribution?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[157,16333],"tags":[25091,24804,24680],"class_list":["post-777037076","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business-news","category-south-east-asia-news","tag-entertainment-city","tag-the-philippines","tag-tourism"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777037076","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/680"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=777037076"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777037076\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":777037081,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777037076\/revisions\/777037081"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16268"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=777037076"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=777037076"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=777037076"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}