Sep19
Japan Okays Integrated Resorts With The Idea To Attract More Tourists
March 29, 2019 Aleksandra Zolotic
After years and years of discussion, integrated resorts (IR) in Japan seem to be closer than ever to becoming reality. Prime Minister, Sinzo Abe, gave the approval for various regulations regarding the planned establishments. Despite the initial hopes of a casino debut during the summer Olympics in Tokyo in 2020…
…it is expected that the first property could open the doors to visitors in 2024. Osaka seems to be among the most favorite picks for this landmark debut.
IR Expected To Bring More Visitors
What actually led to a slight delay was the overall public concern that regulations will bring more compulsive gambling issues. One cannot deny that this negative side-effect inevitably goes hand-in-hand with this industry, but as far as Abe says…
…regulations could and will make Japan an advanced country for casino tourism.
He expects that bill implementation should help achieve the government’s objective, which is attracting 60 million inbound visitors by 2030. What strongly justifies these assumptions is the fact that…
…foreign tourists will be able to visit the venues free of charge, whereas Japanese nationals will have to pay an entrance fee of 6,000 yen ($55). The first batch of licenses will permit three hubs to start operating initially.
MGM’s High Hopes
Industry high fliers, such as MGM Resorts International have been putting plenty of effort to find their way on great unexplored eastern markets. When the idea of IR was at its very beginning, they were among the first ones to express the . By building the office in Osaka…
…they wanted to set foundations for further projects to come.
As a matter of fact, this is not the only tie they have with Japan. To strengthen the relationship, even more, they used baseball as their wild card. Jim Murren, MGM’s chairman, and CEO openly expressed the desire to be among the first operators to bring licenses.
“We believe Osaka will be the first IR location. The government is very anxious to get the World Expo 2025 site in Osaka developed soon.”
More Players Fighting For Permission
Though the loudest one is openly showing interest in entering this distant market, MGM is certainly not the only one. Hard Rock also went public with their ideas for a resort in the city of Tomakomai, Hokkaido.
As for the general rules on planned IRs, regardless of the location, resorts will be allowed to across international airports and cruise ship terminals. Operators will have to report transactions over 1 million yen or more ($9,080 or more) to the government.
Regulations also determine the size of space required for the casino, clarifying that it should not encapsulate more than 3% of the total resort area, taking all rooms into .
Source:
“Japan approves regulations for integrated resorts”, casinobeats.com, March 26, 2019.
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This is market yet to be explored, no doubt it has plenty of potentials. Yeah, there will always be debates on those darker sides, such as addiction, but strict regulations should keep it under control.