By Aubrey Rose A. Inosante, Reporter

THE GOKONGWEI GROUP is banking on Cebu’s booming gaming industry and tourism with its ultra-luxury NUSTAR Hotel, set to open in December as part of a P30-billion investment package.

“The P30 billion, a big chunk of that is for the construction,” Katrina Mae L. de Jesus, assistant vice-president of resort marketing and business development and brand marketing at NUSTAR Resorts and Casino, told BusinessWorld on Saturday.

The NUSTAR hotel is set to soft open by December to “start and build upon the holiday market and then carry on from there,” Roel Constantino, general manager for hotels, told reporters.

This will add 223 hotel rooms and another 383 rooms from the Grand Summit Hotel, which is set to open by 2027. These additional capacities will drive the room count to nearly a thousand, making it the biggest hotel complex in Cebu.

Mr. Constantino said the upcoming NUSTAR hotel foresees the market to be more international. The rooms are larger, starting at 52 square meters (sq.m.).

Currently, Fili Hotel has 379 rooms and houses the casino and NUSTAR Mall.

Ms. De Jesus said Fili Hotel is currently at a 70-80% occupancy rate as some amenities are yet to be operational.

“It’s the grand ballroom that helped. There were lots of events. I think that’s what contributed to the occupancy,” she said.

The core conference area, called the New South Convention Center, is an aggregate of the three ballrooms and the in-between function-spaces, spanning a 19,000-sq.m. capacity. The grand ballroom opened in June 2023.

VIP GAMING SPACE EXPANSION EYED
Trevor Hammond, senior vice- president of gaming and integrated resorts operations, said there is quite a large segment of very important persons (VIPs) that like to play in private salons, which allows an opportunity to expand in the future.

“There is a lot of opportunity to grow. I think we’ve allocated three floors in NUSTAR — the fifth, sixth, and seventh floors — for any possible expansion that we would need for any private gaming rooms for the junket operators,” he said.

He said on level two, the property has eight VIP gaming rooms where the junket operators conduct their business.

Mr. Hammond said that VIP and mass gaming each contribute about 50% to the gross gaming revenue.

“I would say Koreans run about 40%, and some Chinese run about the other 40%, and then local about 20%,” Mr. Hammond said, referring to the share of the VIP market.

Low-cost carrier Cebu Pacific in 2022 launched daily flights to Seoul from Cebu City, which helped boost their Korean market, according to Mr. Hammond.

Meanwhile, for the mass market, source markets are mostly locals followed by Koreans.

“Koreans are a good market for us because their average play is higher. They’ve got a shorter period of play, so they don’t spread it out over a long period. They just come and hit it,” he said.

Mr. Hammond also noted that with the success of NUSTAR, the firm is looking into the idea of spreading its gaming footprint across the Philippines, potentially Luzon.

“We’re constantly looking around. It would be another license. Licensed for specific two regions and two properties,” he said.

“Luzon is where the critical mass is. Clark is a good opportunity there. That’s an area that’s growing,” Mr. Hammond added.

NUSTAR recently launched its official online gaming platform, Play Maxx.

Mr. Hammond also expects online gaming to contribute 20% to 30% to the revenue; however, physical casinos are still the preferred and main driver.

Ahead of the holidays, NUSTAR held its Christmas Lighting event and launched its improved rewards program that features tiered memberships that vary from star, sky, sun, zodiac, and universe.

The soon-to-be-launched NUSTAR Rewards app allows users to book hotels and restaurant reservations, redeem rewards, participate in draws, and more, Alan Teo, chief operating officer of NUSTAR, said.

NUSTAR Resort and Casino is a five-star integrated resort developed by Universal Hotels and Resorts, Inc. (UHRI).

UHRI is a privately owned company by the Gokongwei group and is the estate owner and operator of NUSTAR in Cebu. Robinsons Land Corp. is a partner of UHRI in the hotel management and operations and the mall management and operations of NUSTAR Resort Cebu.