“Uniquely Japanese” casinos must focus on more than gaming

Japan’s new integrated resorts must feature four key components in addition to gaming in order to succeed, according to government representatives.

Speaking at the opening day of the 2017 Japan Gaming Congress, a bipartisan panel of pro-casino politicians recommended that, to win government approval, each of Japan’s planned integrated resorts must feature a convention center, recreation facility (shopping mall, museum, etc.), a hotel and a facility that arranges local travel for tourists.

The latter feature must be a “one-stop” shop for travelers, helping them to arrange tours to Japan’s sightseeing destinations, including helping to book the necessary transport services. This will ensure that the entire country will economically benefit from the launch of integrated resorts, not just the venues’ host cities.

The panel agreed that the government would set an upper limit on the number of integrated resort licenses, but offered no concrete projections on how high that number will be. However, the panel’s members had starkly differing views on where these integrated resorts should be built.