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Japan’s newly appointed Prime Minister wants her tourism department to focus more on promoting the upside of integrated resorts (IRs).
Sanae Takaichi, who became the country’s first female leader after her official appointment on October 21, called on Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism Yasushi Kaneko to “promote the development of IRs and realize attractive stay-type tourism which is highly competitive in the international market.”
only one project has received approval to date
While Japanese lawmakers legalized integrated resorts in 2018, only one project has received approval to date. MGM Resorts International has broken ground on a $9bn project in Osaka that’s expected to open in 2030. It estimates gross gaming revenue to be about $5.9bn annually once it’s fully operational.
Other interested parties dropped out of the race for the three available licenses for a myriad of reasons, including high taxes, significant development costs, and pandemic-related disruption.
Takaichi’s Liberal Democratic Party is a long-time supporter of expanding gambling in the country despite criticism from some quarters. Those who oppose these projects believe crime and addiction rates will skyrocket. Lawmakers recently rolled out a crackdown on people illegally accessing offshore online casinos and advertising efforts from these platforms.
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