Visa-Free Travel Lifts VIP Gaming Outlook at Bloomberry’s Solaire
Analysts see visa-free travel as supportive for VIP gaming at Solaire but warn recovery will depend on travel flows, conversion and margin control.
Bloomberry Resorts’ Solaire stands to gain from Manila’s newly introduced visa-free entry for Chinese nationals, but analysts warn the upside will be gradual rather than immediate.
Key Takeaways:
- Visa-free entry for Chinese tourists may increase Solaire’s VIP gaming volumes by up to 30% in 2026
- Near-term recovery depends on travel flow resumption and conversion of arrivals into high-margin VIP play
- Industry faces headwinds from slower VIP recovery and operational challenges amid rising costs
VIP Gaming Recovery Tied to Travel Normalization
According to a Maybank Securities report, a faster return of mainland high rollers could lift Solaire’s VIP gaming volumes by as much as 30% in 2026 under a bullish scenario, versus a base-case 7% increase.
Maybank has sharply cut its Bloomberry target price and now models core net losses for fiscal 2025 and 2026, reflecting a collapse in VIP gaming.
VIP gross gaming revenue at Solaire fell about 50% in the first nine months of 2025, and it had higher operating costs tied to the rollout of the MegaFUNalo e-gaming brand and increased depreciation, per AGBrief.
Visa-free entry for Chinese tourists for stays of up to 14 days is viewed as a positive development, as reported by Focus Gaming News, but one that will take quarters to feed through to fly-in VIPs and group visitation.
Headwinds Temper Near-Term Upside
Potential upside is balanced by near-term headwinds including the full ramp-up of Solaire Resort North and execution risk around the company’s eGames platform. The company is also refocusing its gaming portfolio, moving to divest its long-struggling Jeju Sun casino in South Korea, a move intended to strengthen core Philippine operations.
Analyst Raffy Mendoza of Maybank Securities observed, as reported by Inside Asian Gaming, that Entertainment City GGR dropped about 15% year-on-year through nine months of 2025, underscoring how dependent VIP gaming volumes are on cross-border travel patterns.
Investors and operators should treat the policy change as necessary but not sufficient: Recovery will depend on how quickly travel flows resume and Bloomberry’s ability to convert arrivals into higher-margin VIP play and stabilize margins amid elevated costs.
