On 02 June, a panel titled “Positioning for Growth: Aligning Policy, Capital & Vision in Integrated Resorts” took place on the SiGMA Stage during SiGMA Asia 2026. Speakers discussed how integrated resort projects worldwide can reconcile the interests of the state, investors, operators, and local communities. Key takeaways are below.
Who took part in the discussion
- Dr Sandra Sanchez Montano, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of CHEERS Global Services, an expert in women’s leadership, healthcare, and elder rights in the Philippines and the ASEAN region. Under her leadership, CHEERS has trained thousands of Filipino caregivers, created new healthcare jobs for women, and set new care home standards focused on dignity and care. Her stated goal is to position the Philippines as Asia’s leading hub for professional elder care.
- Mark Gilbert, Vice President for Online Gaming Operations at Newport World Resorts. He currently leads strategic design and development of the company’s online operations. He began his career on the Las Vegas Strip and has since held senior roles in operations, product strategy, and analytics across the United States and Asia. In the Philippines, he has spent more than eight years working with leading B2C and B2B operators.
- Mac Comandante, Executive Director of Exoasia Innovation Hub, also a Filipino entrepreneur, AI strategist, and venture ecosystem builder. He has more than 20 years of management experience and has worked with founders and executives across the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, the United States, and Europe.
The panel was moderated by Jenny Ortiz Bolivar, Editor-in-Chief for the SiGMA Group Asia region.
An integrated resort is more than a casino
The panel opened with a clear thesis. Integrated resorts are no longer isolated gaming venues. They sit within a wider system that includes regulation, tourism strategy, transport links, restaurants, retail, and entertainment for visitors who may not gamble at all. This is why such projects require long planning horizons and cannot be developed independently of airports, roads, hotel capacity, and national tourism policy.
“Creating an integrated resort is never easy. It’s a whole ecosystem involving regulations, the government, tourism, and infrastructure”
The Philippines model highlights why the casino floor is only a small part of the full structure. PAGCOR rules allow only 7.5% of the total site area to be allocated to gambling. The rest must be distributed across hotels, restaurants, retail, and entertainment. As a result, competition increasingly moves towards the full guest experience.
For operators, this raises the bar. The resort must work as a place for gambling, leisure, business meetings, shopping, family time, and short domestic trips. The wider the model, the more performance depends on managing the entire destination, not only the casino.
Growth depends on stable rules
Speakers agreed that success requires more than a licence. Operators need confidence that rules will not shift after elections, political changes, or tax revisions. Integrated resorts demand considerable capital, long payback periods, and ongoing coordination among the operator, the regulator, and the state.
“We need to have clear expectations of stability, consistency, and predictability”
This is especially relevant in the Philippines, where the gaming sector remains economically material. PAGCOR reported gross gaming revenue of PHP 87.6 billion in the first quarter of 2026, around $1.5 billion, down 15.87% compared with the prior year. At this scale, changes in taxation or licensing can reshape investment expectations across the market.
The speakers stressed that this is not a request for the government to step away from the industry. It is a baseline growth condition. If the state expects jobs, tourism inflows, and tax growth, it needs to provide clear operating boundaries. Otherwise, political risk is priced into business models, and projects become less ambitious.
The regular guest matters as much as the gambler
Another strong line of discussion was the rising importance of the guest who does not gamble. In the Philippines, many visitors arrive to relax, dine, meet friends, and attend events. Operators therefore need to see total guest spend across the resort, including accommodation, restaurants, entertainment, retail, events, and digital services. If loyalty rewards track only gaming activity, they undervalue a segment that can generate comparable or higher revenue.
“You need to understand the guest’s total spend across hotels, restaurants, and the entire operation, and reward them for that, not just for gaming”
Competition will increasingly favour resorts with a unified customer system that calculates guest value across the full on-property journey.
Data and AI are changing resort operations
Many resorts still do not view the guest as a single profile. Casino, hotel, and restaurant transactions are stored in separate databases, preventing operators from grasping the true value of their customers.
This is where data and AI become practical tools. Mac Comandante referenced resorts that can identify visitor preferences before arrival. Mark Gilbert emphasised the importance of tracking customer behaviour beyond the casino floor.
“It’s a sin, an absolute sin in the gaming industry, not to know the true value of your players”
The panel concluded that resort performance will depend on how quickly operators can consolidate all touchpoints into a single loyalty and analytics system.
Social initiatives as a growth driver
The closing segment focused on social value. Speakers argued that an integrated resort should deliver value not only to shareholders, but also to the local area. Projects should create jobs, train staff, engage local suppliers, and launch local programs. ESG becomes part of the business model, not a separate charity layer.
“The integrated resort that wins over the next decade will be the one that makes the community wealthier, not just the shareholders”
The panel cited an example from the Philippines. Okada Manila runs the Okada Green Heart programme, which includes minimizing plastic waste, redistributing excess food, restoring watersheds, and taking part in community work. Reported outcomes include recycling 2 million plastic bottles per year, diverting 2,827 kg of food from waste, and planting 625 trees.
Key takeaway
The integrated resort of the future will not be judged only by gaming revenue, room count, or restaurants. Sustainability depends on a more complex combination of stable regulation, accessible capital, strong non-gaming offerings, a unified view of the customer, and community trust. Together, these factors turn a resort into a long-term economic platform.
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