Universal Hotels & Resorts, the theme park unit of Comcast subsidiary NBC Universal, is reportedly ready to deliver a new, state-of-the-art gaming-friendly venue to the Philippines. The new gaming venue, the Nustar Resort & Casino, is under construction in Cebu—a province of the Philippines located in the Central Visayas Region. In spite of adverse business conditions and obstacles created by COVID-19 pandemic, Universal Hotels & Resorts advanced with the project and it is expected to be ready by next year.

After being initially announced in November 2017, Nustar Resort & Casino has been in the works for the last four years. A formal agreement to start construction on the project was signed in the month of August in 2018. According to local media reports, construction of the casino report is moving forward, and it should be available to gambling and entertainment enthusiasts with a grand opening sometime in 2022.

Nustar Resort & Casino will reportedly be the biggest gaming floor outside of Metro Manila, with a gaming floor spanning more than 226,000 square feet. The venue will also feature three hotel towers offering as many as 1,000 rooms in addition to 4 floors of retail and dining space as well as meeting and conference rooms. The upcoming venue will also be equipped with a state-of-the-art water theme park, which would surely allow the operator to cater to families and kids.

Universal Hotels & Resorts selected Cebu for developing the new resort because of its ability to attract a wide range of national and international tourists. With the growth of the Mactan Cebu International Airport, arriving at the island has become quite easy. In the future, it is expected to receive a significant amount of domestic as well as international traffic, especially from South Korea, Japan and China.

Supporters of casino gaming are eagerly waiting for the opening of the new venue as they believe that it would provide a big boost to the local economy by creating new jobs and generating a new stream of revenue for the government.

Cebu is one of the top tourist destinations in the Philippines, thanks to its idyllic white-sand beaches, amazing waterfalls, and gaming-friendly environment. It attracts a large number of tourists every year, and the addition of the Nustar Resort & Casino will surely attract even more leisure lovers and gaming enthusiasts.