Okada Manila preps for 20k daily visitors: report

Jan 05, 2017 Newsdesk Latest News, Philippines, Top of the deck  

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A senior executive at the new Philippine casino resort Okada Manila says management expects the property to welcome more than 20,000 visitors per day.

“We want guests to enjoy not exactly to gamble,” Steve Wolstenholme, president of Okada Manila, said in comments carried by the Manila Standard newspaper. “What we offer is fun and entertainment,” he added.

Mr Wolstenholme also gave some more detail on the facilities at Okada Manila. According to him, in addition to the previously-reported 41,000-square-metre (441,320-sq-feet) casino with space for 500 gaming tables and 3,000 electronic gaming machines, the two wings of the hotel are connected by a “skybridge”.

The Standard further reported there is an art exhibition space – called the Café Museum – that will display 80 pieces of art and sculpture from the collection of the resort’s creator, Japanese gaming entrepreneur, Kazuo Okada.

An institution in Kanagawa, Japan – the Okada Museum of Art – opened in 2013 and was founded by him, according to its website. It also features works from his collection.

The 993-room, five-star hotel at Okada Manila has accommodation ranging in size from rooms of 58 square metres to villas of 1,400-sq ms.

At the back of the venue there is an 800-metre long glazed passage, which Mr Wolstenholme reportedly referred to as a “crystal corridor,” and that will feature digital entertainment.

The glass dome at the front of the property – accommodating the resort’s man-made beach and a nightclub – reportedly covers 9,000 square metres.

Okada Manila opened on December 21 (pictured) in what management referred to as a “preview period”. An official launch for the property will take place this quarter.

The US$2.4-billion Okada Manila is being developed by Tiger Resort, Leisure and Entertainment Inc, a subsidiary of Universal Entertainment Inc. The latter is headed by Mr Okada.

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