After stating earlier this month that it wanted to promote the Philippines as a destination for luxury cruise operators, Tiger Resort Leisure And Entertainment Incorporated has reportedly announced plans to add a port facility to its coming Okada Manila integrated casino resort.

According to a report from The Manila Times newspaper, Tiger Resort Leisure And Entertainment Incorporated, which is hoping to open the first phase of the $4.2 billion Okada Manila by the end of the year, is already in talks with cruise line operators and now wants to build a docking venue in Manila Bay that could accommodate smaller vessels as well as some of the world’s largest ships.

“Cruise liners are very interested in the Philippines,” Lorenz Manalang, Public Relations Executive Director for Tiger Resort Leisure And Entertainment Incorporated, told The Manila Times. “When we did a courtesy call, we were already being called by the cruise liners. They wanted [to come to] the Philippines but the cruise liners can’t enter here because we don’t have the proper facilities.”

Manalang told the newspaper that his company is working on the design for a port that could accommodate “small to 50-footer yachts” and several cruise ships, which would sit alongside a budget family hotel and additional retail areas as part of the second phase of the Manila project.

“In fact, the Chairman is already buying two to three seaplanes now all because he believes in the future of Philippine tourism,” Manalang told the newspaper. “All of those [plans for the second phase] are projections, all are on the table, but nothing is final yet. The performance of [the first phase] will dictate how phase two will come in.”

The brainchild of Japanese gaming entrepreneur Kazuo Okada, Okada Manila is located in Manila’s three-square-mile Entertainment City district, which is already home to the City Of Dreams and the Solaire Resort And Casino developments, and is due to be joined in 2018 by the giant Resorts World Bayshore project from Genting Hong Kong Limited and local conglomerate Alliance Global Group Incorporated.

Steve Wolstenholme, Chief Operating Officer for Okada Manila, told The Manila Times that Tiger Resort Leisure And Entertainment Incorporated is already moving ahead with the second “mostly retail” phase of Okada Manila while still finishing off its initial stage offerings. He explained that the third and fourth chapters of the development are still “conceptual” while the declaring that the 53.25-acre first phase is due to come complete with a $30 million dancing water fountain alongside Asia’s largest indoor beach club. All of this will sit alongside a pair of hotel towers with a total of 993 rooms while a 441,300 sq ft casino is to feature 3,000 slots and 500 gaming tables as well as an almost 33,000 sq ft spa in conjunction with numerous food, beverage and retail outlets.