菲律宾悄悄挖澳门赌客墙角

“If [corrupt] officiAls gamble in Macau, they will be discovered,” warned Li Gang, mainland China’s representative to the world’s gambling capital. Such admonitions may be music to the ears of Philippine casino operators as they seek to lure regional high rollers to Manila’s ascendant gaming zone.

“内地加大了反腐的力度，一些腐败官员，包括一些国有企业的领导，很多就不敢再到澳门去赌博。而且，由于澳门在博彩业方面也采取了一些管制措施，这些官员如果到澳门赌博会被发现，”中国中央政府驻澳门联络办公室主任李刚称。这样的警告在菲律宾赌场运营商耳中可能像音乐一样动听，他们正寻求吸引亚洲地区的豪赌客光顾马尼拉正在发展中的赌博区。

Macapagal Boulevard may not yet have the cachet of the Las Vegas Strip. But the area centred on Entertainment City — an 8 sq km gambling district established on reclaimed land on Manila Bay — has robust ambitions to become one of Asia’s top gaming and entertainment centres, according to Asean Confidential, a research service at the Financial Times.

马卡帕加尔大道(Macapagal Boulevard)可能尚未达到拉斯维加斯大道(Las Vegas Strip)的名气。但是，据英国《金融时报》旗下研究机构《东盟投资参考》(Asean Confidential)介绍，以娱乐城(Entertainment City)——建在马尼拉湾(Manila Bay)填海土地上的8平方公里的赌博区——为中心的地区，拥有打造亚洲顶级博彩及娱乐中心的雄心壮志。

Its star attraction is the $1bn City of Dreams complex, owned by Melco Crown Entertainment and local conglomerate SM Group, which opened its doors in January. Next door is the $1.2bn Solaire, a bustling complex owned by Bloomberry Resorts. Nearby, next to Manila airport stands Resorts World Manila, run by Travellers International.

在这里，具有明星般吸引力的是造价10亿美元的新濠天地(City of Dreams)综合娱乐度假村。该大楼于今年1月开始营业，其所有者为新濠博亚娱乐公司(Melco Crown Entertainment)和菲律宾综合企业SM集团(SM Group)。隔壁是耗资12亿美元的晨丽(Solaire)娱乐场及渡假城，其东家是Bloomberry Resorts。在不远处，马尼拉机场旁边坐落着由Travellers International运营的马尼拉云顶世界(Resorts World Manila)。

The scale of these facilities is impressive. City of Dreams alone has six hotel towers, 380 gaming tables, 1,700 slot machines and 1,700 electronic table games.

这些场所的规模令人印象深刻。仅新濠天地一家就有6栋酒店大楼、380张赌桌、1700台老虎机以及1700张电子赌桌。

Nevertheless, this is just a start. In the next few years, a second Resorts World facility — a partnership between Genting Hong Kong and local conglomerate Alliance Global — is expected to open in Entertainment City, along with a massive new casino by Universal Entertainment, in partnership with Tiger Resort Leisure and Entertainment.

尽管如此，这还仅仅是开始。在接下来的几年，第二家名胜世界(Resorts World)设施——云顶香港(Genting Hong Kong)和菲律宾综合企业Alliance Global的合作项目——预计将在娱乐城开业，还有环球娱乐(Universal Entertainment)与老虎娱乐度假村(Tiger Resort Leisure and Entertainment)联手打造的另一家大型新赌场。

The outlook for such investments depends to a significant extent on how the chips fall in Macau. Lately, the former Portuguese enclave has been on a losing streak, with revenues slumping for the tenth consecutive month in March (see chart). Several high-profile official corruption exposes have included lurid details of gambling trips to Macau, fostering suspicions that the casinos are monitored by Chinese secret police.

此类投资项目的前景在很大程度上取决于澳门的形势会如何演变。近来，这块前葡萄牙殖民地经历了连输——3月博彩业收入连续第10个月下滑（见图表）。一些备受瞩目的官员腐败事件报道包含了其赴澳门赌博的让人大开眼界的细节，助长了人们对中国秘密警察监视赌场的怀疑。

The Manila casino operators are not bashful about targeting Macau’s high-rollers. Melco has ties to the Macau junkets, the businesses that connect wealthy punters to casinos, and is actively seeking to lure business over the South China Sea. Another Macau junket operator, SunCity Group, has also said it is planning to expand its VIP room presence in Solaire and City of Dreams.

马尼拉赌场运营商对于吸引澳门豪赌客并不感到难为情。新濠与澳门博彩中介（在富裕赌徒和赌场之间牵线搭桥的公司）有关系，并且正在积极寻求把生意吸引到南中国海的另一端。另一家澳门博彩中介公司SunCity Group也表示，正计划扩大其在晨丽和新濠天地的贵宾室。

But how realistic are Manila’s long-term goals? Casino revenue growth in 2014 showed promise, rising 16 per cent to $2.5bn, according to the local gaming regulator and casino operator, Pagcor. VIP revenue was up 50 per cent, signifying the growing pull of Macapagal Boulevard to high rollers. Pagcor hopes total casino revenues will rise to $7bn by 2020, by which time the two planned casinos are expected to have opened.

但是，马尼拉的长期目标有多现实？据当地博彩业监管机构及赌场运营商——菲律宾娱乐和博彩公司(Pagcor)称，2014年赌场收入增长呈现希望——同比增长16%，至25亿美元。豪赌客收入增长50%，突显马卡帕加尔大道对这些人的吸引力不断增加。Pagcor希望，到2020年，博彩业总收入将达到70亿美元，届时上述2家规划中的赌场将已经开业。

Other estimates are more modest. Macquarie Research sees Manila’s gambling revenues rising by an average 20 per cent a year over the next three years to hit $4.8bn in 2018.

其他增幅预测相对较小。麦格理研究(Macquarie Research)预计，未来3年，马尼拉博彩业收入将以平均每年20%的速度增长，到2018年将达到48亿美元。

Indeed, much is unpredictable. A flare-up between the Philippine and Chinese navies in 2012 over a territorial dispute in the South China Sea spilled over into trade and tourism, with Chinese travel agencies suspending tours. Tourism has recovered somewhat since then, but the political relationship remains tense.

的确，很多情况难以预料。2012年菲律宾海军与中国海军在南中国海因领土争端发生对峙，影响了贸易和旅游业，中国旅行社暂停向菲律宾发团。自那以后，旅游业有所恢复，但是政治关系仍然紧张。