The listed arm of Asian gaming and tourism investor Suncity Group has purchased a majority stake in a plot of land in Okinawa, Japan in order develop a new resort hotel.
In a filing with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Friday, Suncity revealed it had reached an agreement to purchase a 51% stake in MSRD Corporation Limited for US$9,588,000, with the target company’s principal asset being a 108,799 square-meter site currently comprising fields, farmland and public roads.
As part of its ongoing efforts to expand and diversify its tourism-related business interests, Suncity said it intends to apply to Okinawa’s Legal Affairs Bureau to build 40 villas with a pool and a hotel of more than 100 rooms on the land.
Although the development won’t incorporate gaming, the company said it “considers that with (i) the continued increase in Chinese visitors travelling to Japan and (ii) the newly operated direct flights to the Shimojishima Airport, the acquisition represents a good opportunity to further expand its tourism-related business and to diversify its focus, in terms of geographical locations, from China to the East Asia region.”
Suncity noted that visitor arrivals to Okinawa had increased from around 13.4 million in 2014 to 31.2 million in 2018, representing a compound annual growth rate of 18.4% of which visitors from China accounted for approximately 26.9% of the total visitor arrivals in 2018.
“Okinawa ranks within the top 10 among all the most visited prefectures in Japan,” it said.
The acquisition, at a total consideration of US$9,588,000, comes just days after Suncity Group released its concept for an integrated resort development in Wakayama.
Suncity also revealed last week that the opening of Phase 1 of its Vietnam IR Hoiana, of which it holds a 33% stake, could be delayed until the first half of 2020, having previously been scheduled for 4Q19.
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