Osaka capitalizes on future casinos

OSAKA - Macau, Malaysia, Laos, Cambodia, Korea, the Philippines, Singapore and tomorrow Taiwan and Japan. Asia is turning into a giant gambling area encouraged by the successes of both Macau and Singapore. This is now the turn of Japan. Last year, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe indicated to pass a bill in parliament to allow finally open the doors to casino business in Japan, likely from 2016.

Gambling is one the favourite activities of Japanese. Although casinos are for banned, Japanese are all craze for Pachinko –a kind of pinball game-, horse races, bicycle races or lottery. These games generate on average annual revenues of ¥19 trillion, the equivalent of US$185 billion. This is rougly 30% of all leisure spending by Japanese.

Casinos to be open will be developed after the Singapore model -a mix of gambling and family-style entertainment within a theme resort. Osaka is ready to be among the first cities of the archipelago to welcome a casino. Osaka did already choose a site- a reclaimed island in the Osaka Bay, next to a new “Knowledge City” with piers, museums, offices, hotels and mall and in the immediate vicinity of Universal Studios Japan.

According to the Prefecture of Osaka, the city has the advantage to rent land at a lower cost than in Tokyo while being one of the most affluent and populated urban areas of Japan. Osaka metropolitan area has nine million inhabitants while over 2.5 million foreign travellers are recorded ever year in the city.

Some of the world’s biggest casino operators have already knocked on the door of Osaka Investment Bureau. Caesars Entertainment Corp. and Genting Singapore Plc visited last year Osaka local government while MGM Resorts International are expected in the weeks to come. They all expressed strong interest to develop the future giant casino resort of Osaka, estimated to cost some US$ 4.8 billion.

But the amount of money is worth the investment. Experts estimate that Japan could become one of the leading countries –some say the second largest in the world- for gambling revenues. They are estimated between US$ 5 and 10 billion a year. It would also stimulate the economy of a city and a region which in recent years experienced a relatively decline of its traditional industries. More important, it would also help to achieve the target of welcoming 20 million tourists in 2020 and 30 million in 2030 up from 10.3 million in 2013. The first casinos are expected to be fully operational before Tokyo welcomes the Olympic Games in 2020…

Sourced: TravelDailyNews