The US$2.4-billion Okada Manila is scheduled to start operations on December 21, according to an official press release issued on Friday. An official grand opening for the property (pictured in an artist’s rendering) will take place in the first quarter of 2017, a spokesperson told GGRAsia.
“Rather than a ‘soft opening,’ Okada Manila is delighted to offer a preview period between December 21 and [the] grand opening later in the first quarter of 2017,” Shariza Relova, director of public relations for Okada Manila, told GGRAsia in an emailed reply.
Okada Manila’s first day of operations will include a free Christmas concert featuring several local artists. “There will be a spectacular firework display beautifully enhanced with [a] laser light show,” the release said.
“The media and public can expect a much larger event to mark the official launch of the property early next year,” Ms Relova said.
The first phase of the project covers 22 hectares (54.4 acres) of the overall 44-hectare plot in which the casino resort stands.
Okada Manila is being developed by Tiger Resort, Leisure and Entertainment Inc, a subsidiary of Universal Entertainment Inc. The latter is headed by Japanese gaming and pachinko entrepreneur Kazuo Okada.
Under an earlier plan for Okada Manila – originally under the working title Manila Bay Resorts – the casino property should have been completed by March 31, 2015. But the Philippine casino regulator approved in June 2015 a new timetable that pushed back the completion of the venue to December 31, 2016.
