Only these three cities are emerging as likely candidates to host casinos in Japan given their relatively high population and proximity to major international airports. To be selected, operators and municipalities will have to team up and submit a concrete proposal to the government, according to guidelines published this month.
"The guidelines have changed the power structure between operators and local governments,” Yoshinobu Nisaka, governor of Wakayama prefecture in western Japan, said at a news conference at the Japan Gaming Congress on May 11. "Where did the view that this was for local revitalization go?”
Officials from Nagasaki to Hokkaido have raised their hands to host casino resorts in their cities. Some are now also criticizing the process, saying it will lead to big operators only wanting to partner with large cities. Members of the government panel debating the issue have said licenses should be awarded to two to three municipalities to build out the first casino resorts in Japan.
"This morning’s newspaper made me so disappointed,” Hiroya Ebina, the mayor of Kushiro, a town in the northern prefecture of Hokkaido, said on May 11 when the new framework made headlines in Japan.
Las Vegas Sands Corp. is eyeing the three large cities, according to the chief executive officer of its Singapore operation. "The location that works best for our business model is the major cities so we’re talking about Tokyo, Yokohama, Osaka,” Marina Bay Sands CEO George Tanasijevich said in an interview on May 11.
"We need to be in a major city that’s connected to a major international airport so we can bring in the millions of people that we want to host at our property,” he said, adding a large local business community would also be a prerequisite.
Ed Bowers, executive vice president of global development for MGM Resorts International, also said a big local population would be required to justify the investment.
"MGM’s business
model is to build large-scale destination resorts with lots of stuff that cost
a lot of money,” he said. "So it needs to be in a high density population area,
and obviously the ones to be mentioned are Tokyo, Osaka and Yokohama. So we’re
focused on those three.”
Source: GMB / Innovate Gaming
