GGRAsia – Japan needs 2nd round of IR bids soon says tourism ex-boss

Japan needs 2nd round of IR bids soon says tourism ex-boss

May 16, 2024 Newsdesk Japan, Latest News, Top of the deck

Japan’s government should launch soon an anticipated second round for communities across the country to apply for the right to host a casino resort. That is according to reported comments by Norifumi Ide, a former senior official under the country’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.

His remarks were in a Wednesday committee meeting of Nagasaki’s prefectural assembly. That Japanese conurbation applied in the first round for the right to host an integrated resort (IR) with a casino, but last December it was told by the national authorities that its effort was not successful.

That left the only other first-round bidder – Osaka city and prefecture – as the sole winning candidate. The MGM Osaka casino resort venture features a consortium led by MGM Resorts International and Orix Corp.

Mr Ide said in his Wednesday comments, a benefit of announcing soon a second round of bidding, would be to enable places currently mulling an IR policy “under the surface” to do so with more clarity. It’s not clear whether Nagasaki itself would make a fresh bid. In March, a prefectural committee was told that city would face a “high hurdle” to have another go.

Mr Ide was speaking to a Nagasaki prefectural assembly committee dealing with tourism, integrated resort matters, and the bullet train network Shinkansen, according to information collated by GGRAsia’s Japan correspondent.

There were “still two” spots nationally for IR projects, “which the [Japanese] government can approve under the IR Act,” observed Mr Ide, referring to relevant enabling legislation.

“The government should make use of them to promote their tourism policy,” he added. He was speaking in his capacity as vice-chairman of the private Japan Business Research Institute for Tourism and IR.

“The tourism agency under the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism should make an announcement to launch the second application process as soon as possible to facilitate local governments’ and private businesses’ moves,” said Mr Ide.

He added: “Now multiple prefectures and ordinance-designated cities have been considering whether to try having an IR, including Hokkaido, Tokyo, Aichi… I heard that some of them are proceeding with actual preparations under the surface.”

The minimum-scale requirements for core non-gaming facilities in an IR project – such as for meetings and exhibitions, and hotel space – deserve a review, as does the application process itself, said Mr Ide.

The relevant legislation dealing with IR requirements, was passed in 2018, with a provision for a review after 10 years. “The [national] government plans to reconsider and improve the IR act and related regulations in calendar year 2028,” Mr Ide said.

The current scale requirements for IR facilities were “okay for metropolitan areas but not easy for [other] areas to meet,” the former tourism official also remarked.