At the Hilton Fukuoka Sea Hawk Hotel on Saturday, an IR seminar was held where three operators, from both abroad and within Japan, presented their past achievements and a portion of their proposed concept for an IR at the Huis Ten Bosch resort in the Nagasaki city of Sasebo.
The three operators were Hong Kong’s Oshidori International, Austria’s Casinos Austria International (CAI) and Nagasaki’s Current.
The three operators had already proposed their operational plans in the request for concept (RFC), and have been proactively exchanging opinions with Nagasaki prefecture.
Oshidori focused on innovation and localization at the seminar, Nagasaki Shimbun reports, with the company to partner with Partouche, a French company that operates casinos in Europe.
CAI pushed the fact that it was government-owned.The company emphasized its relationship with architect Kengo Kuma, aiming for a blending of Japanese and Western styles that fuses the art culture of the country’s capital of Vienna with Japan.
Current, whose office is located in Nagasaki prefecture, presented a concept with world-class entertainment. The presentation mentioned that the company has an overseas financer and emphasized, “The IR property will partner with tourist locations in the prefecture and the nearby islands, and introduce them to the world.”
Although held in the shadow of the recent IR bribery scandal, there is strong consensus building that Nagasaki is now a strong contender to win an IR license. With the withdrawal of Kitakyushu from the race, the entirety of Kyushu is standing behind Nagasaki’s IR bid with more than 300 attending the seminar, including many of the island’s government officials.
Nagasaki governor Hodo Nakamura stated, “We can create a new flow of people by establishing an entrance to Kyushu through an IR.” He added that an IR bid will serve as a countermeasure to the declining population and revitalization of the region.
He also suggested establishment of a third-party screening committee for operator selection. There were panel discussions on the economic ripple effect as well as problem gambling countermeasures.
