Industry experts have told Inside Asian Gaming that the arrival of legalized casino gaming in Japan could have a negative impact on Macau and other regional gaming destinations due to its broad tourist appeal and potential ability to attract the best executive talent.
As reported by IAG, the Prime Minister of Japan, Fumio Kishida, announced Friday that the government has approved the development of an integrated resort in Osaka by a consortium led by MGM Resorts International and local partner Orix.
Asked whether an Osaka IR could negatively impact the Macau gaming industry, Ryan Hong-Wai Ho, lecturer at the Centre for Gaming and Tourism Studies at Macao Polytechnic University, said the development was in many ways a “positive for the development of the global gaming industry.”
“Japanese and Korean tourists are an important source of customers for casinos in the Asia-Pacific region, and the opening of a casino in Osaka may provide the opportunity to attract [more] customers from these neighboring regions,” Ho said.
But he also noted that, “from another perspective, the emerging gaming jurisdictions such as Japan and Thailand will mean a great demand for talent with practical gaming management experience, as was the case with the liberalization of Macau’s gaming industry.”
The President of the Macau Professional Association of Gaming Promoters, U Io Hung, said Japan would also provide an attractive tourism proposition for regional customers when compared with destinations such as Macau.
“From a business side, Osaka is already a popular tourist destination for mainland Chinese tourists and it will definitely become Macau’s biggest competitor,” he said, adding that Japan presented unique cultural and tourism resources.
“Osaka’s airport also has more routes than Macau’s and most visitors to Japan stay longer than in Macau.
“Macau is still dependent on the mainland market after the epidemic. Macau’s gaming operators and the government must consider more ways to attract foreign tourists, otherwise the impact of Osaka will be more direct.”
U also suggested MGM Resorts would have some competitive advantages when it comes to operating an IR in Osaka given Japan’s lower 30% tax rate. By comparison, Macau’s concessionaires are taxed at around 40% on GGR.
However, any impact from Osaka’s IR is still some years away with the development currently slated for a 2029 launch, possibly later.
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