The president and CEO of MGM Resorts International says the next year will be “a critical time” in the development of the company’s integrated resort (IR) in Osaka, Japan, scheduled to launch in 2030.
In comments at the JP Morgan Lodging, Restaurant & Leisure Management Access Forum, March 14 in Las Vegas, Bill Hornbuckle detailed the multi-phased process behind the $8 billion IR. MGM Osaka is the only IR project yet approved by the Japanese government.
“What has to happen here is that we literally get into the ground with pylons,” said Hornbuckle, per GGRAsia. “We’re slated for midsummer next year to begin that process. That’ll go on for about three years.
“It’s a massive site that needs thousands of pylons. Getting that going will be the key milestone. Once we get under way there, a path to 2030 is pretty clear, pretty straightforward. So I think between now and next summer is really a critical path and critical time.” MGM’s partners in the project are Japan’s Orix Corp., a financial services firm, and smaller local equity partners.
Meanwhile, Osaka Governor Hirofumi Yoshimura is mulling an “entry fee” for foreign tourists to prevent “overtourism.”
According to GGRAsia, government data shows that 12.31 million international tourists visited Osaka in 2019, prior to the Covid-19 pandemic. Yoshimura hopes to introduce the fee before April 2025, when the World Expo begins on Yumeshima Island in Osaka Bay—also the site of the future MGM development.
Joji Kokuryo, managing director of gaming consultancy Bay City Ventures, told the news outlet, “If Osaka can make a scheme that is legal and logical, the minister of Internal Affairs and Communications will approve it.
“There are more checks and balances required for a foreigner-only tax, with details concerning topics such as anti-discrimination and the handling of foreign nationals living in Japan,” he added. “(But) the overall procedure is not too different from the ‘accommodation fee’ that is already in place in Osaka” for hotel stays, which applies to both domestic and international visitors. Osaka now charges a room fee for hotel guests starting at $47.50 per person a night.
Daniel Cheng, former senior executive with Hard Rock International, sounded a cautionary note, saying there are “significant challenges” to initiating an entry tax. “Achieving fairness and securing approval from the interior ministry would be complex hurdles to overcome. To implement it in time for the Osaka expo next year is an unrealistic time frame.”
He added, “This issue of overtourism stemmed from complaints among local residents residing in high tourism areas to the extent it disrupted their way of life and also created a stress on the tourism assets and infrastructure.”
