The city and prefecture of Osaka remain at the top of the list of potential integrated resort locations in Japan. U.S. gaming operator MGM Resorts International has an “Osaka-first” approach, and others including Melco Resorts & Entertainment and Galaxy Entertainment Group also have Osaka in their sights.
Some in the local government want to see an IR open in time for the next World Expo, which will take place on Osaka’s Yumeshima Island in 2025. But one analyst is advising stakeholders that in this case, the race is not necessarily to the swift.
“Japan has the opportunity to create IR 2.0 in terms of design, scope, and offerings,” said Brendan Bussmann, government affairs director for Global Market Advisors. “I do not believe they would like to see that next standard compromised.”
With Osaka unlikely to choose an IR partner until next year, completing an IR on Yumeshima by the opening of the World Expo would be “tight at best,” Bussmann added. “One of the biggest needs for Yumeshima and the Expo is nearby hotel rooms. Unfortunately, the hotel tower is among the IR components that takes the longest to construct.”
“This will be a challenge for everyone,” Galaxy Entertainment Japan General Manager Satoshi Okabe told Forbes. “However, we have experience in developing mega properties, including our flagship Galaxy Macau, and we are always ready to prepare and propose the best plan to achieve objectives of the local government.”
“Expo has already changed the game for Osaka,” Melco Resorts Executive Vice President Frederic Winckler told the publication. “You have an incredible launch platform to work from, with 28 to 30 million people expected to visit Expo.”
The government apparently is all in, and now the tide of public sentiment seems to be turning in favor of an IR. A new poll by the Nihon Keizai Shinbun found that 45 percent of Osakans now support an IR at Yumeshima, while 42 percent remain opposed—an extraordinary turnaround from 2018, when only 19 percent of locals polled favored the plan.
In related news, Genting Singapore indicated it also will join the race for an IR license in Japan, one of three to be awarded in the first round of development. In the company’s 2018 results, Executive Chairman Tan Sri Lim Kok Thay said the company is “cautiously optimistic” about its chances to break into the Japanese market.
“The IR industry in Japan is expected to be a stringently regulated one,” Lim said, “so we are hopeful that our track record of operating in a very tightly regulated environment in Singapore will give us an edge over our competitors in the Japan IR bid.”
While most of the attention is on Osaka, Makinohara City has joined the race too, and hosted the first of the two public meetings to explain the benefits of such a large-scale development. Members of the Shizuoka Makinohara IR Bid Promotion Committee, which includes local business leaders and a former mayor, say an IR will help bring young professionals back to the area, boost the economy and add jobs.
