Emerald Bay casino timing hurt by pandemic: COO

May 20, 2021 Newsdesk Latest News, Philippines, Top of the deck  

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A senior executive from the promoter of the under-construction Emerald Bay casino resort in Cebu in the Philippines, says the Covid-19 pandemic has affected the development timetable.

“The reimposition of stricter quarantine measures in March… created more difficulties in the construction of Emerald Bay in terms of labour mobilisation and materials delivery just as we were generating momentum,” said José Angel Sueiro, chief operating officer of PH Resorts Group Holdings Inc.

His comments were cited in a Wednesday press release, issued the same days as the group’s annual general meeting.

In a May 14 filing, PH Resorts said Emerald Bay would be constructed in two phases, with the first phase “expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2022.”

The company had previously mentioned a second-quarter 2022 completion for the initial phase of the complex (pictured in a file photo).

Mr Sueiro added in his commentary, that the new timing for Emerald Bay’s first-phase completion would be “ideal”, with tourism-market recovery likely to be “well under way by that time”.

The company’s release suggested tourism bounce back could be linked to expansion of Covid-19 vaccination effort: with the domestic holiday market one of the improving areas.

Emerald Bay is due, at completion of its first phase, to have 122 gaming tables to be shared between mass-market play, premium mass and junkets; 600 electronic gaming machines; and 270 hotel room bays.

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