MGM website promotes IRs to the citizenry
Wakayama Prefecture in Japan has tabled the release of its integrated resort plan until next year, but one thing about it is certain: the government there wants to ban domestic patrons and reserve the casino for foreigners only.
According to GGRAsia, the central Japanese government has asked local authorities and investors to respond to a request for concept regarding locations of the casino resorts. Back in June, Wakayama’s local authority promised to issue its “master plan” for the proposed IR this fall, but then put that off until March 2018.
“We are still proposing a foreigner-only casino,” wrote an official in an email to the news outlet. “It has been like that for a long time and nothing has changed.” The source said the delay in the release of the plan is due to the “the political situation in Japan”; passage of Japan’s IR Implementation Bill also has been delayed until at least the spring because of a snap election to be held late this month.
The IR bill will determine “critical details” of the new industry, according to a September note from Fitch Ratings, “including the number of casinos permitted and potential visitation restrictions for Japanese nationals.”
Until then, global operators are preparing for a bidding war. According to the Asia Gaming Brief, MGM Resorts International has launched a Japan website to promote the benefits of IRs to local communities. “We hope that it becomes a useful resource for all those in Japan interested in getting a better understanding of our diverse and complex industry,” said Ed Bowers, CEO of MGM Resorts Japan.
A report in the Washington Post indicates that Japan remains a hot ticket among operators, despite concerns that the government will limit the size of gaming floors to 161,500 square feet; ban residents completely; allow residents but require them to show government-issued ID cards and pay stiff entry fees; ban ATM machines in casinos; and require that Japanese citizens use cash to buy chips, while foreigners can use credit cards. All these restrictions could have a negative impact on profitability.
But Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government argues that casinos “will help boost Japan’s economy, which has been stuck in a funk for two decades,” according to the Post account. “Casinos are a central part of its goal to increase the number of foreign tourists from a record 24 million last year to 40 million by 2020, when Tokyo will host the Summer Olympics, and then to 60 million by 2030.”
