Inside Asian Gaming

INSIDE ASIAN GAMING MAR 2019 8 Education breeds transformation www.asgam.com Ben Blaschke Managing Editor We crave your feedback. Please email your comments to bb@asgam.com. EDITORIAL I was recently in Tokyo for the launch of IAG Japan , an event that provided me with a unique opportunity to chat with representatives of dozens of local companies interested in taking part in Japan’s IR industry. Some of those I spoke to already had some links to the IR and associated leisure and hospitality industries across Asia while others simply recognized that IRs might present them with an opportunity to grow in the next few years. Either way, the common theme was that they were all extremely interested in learning more about the operations and potential impact of Japan’s first wave of integrated resorts. We often hear about how the Japanese public remain broadly opposed to casinos in their own backyard, yet what is becoming increasingly evident is that the local business community is slowly starting to better understand what an IR actually is. More and more companies are now making their move to make sure they aren’t left behind when Japanese IRs start opening their doors around 2024 or 2025. It also got me thinking about the vast differences that exist from jurisdiction to jurisdiction across Asia when it comes to their acceptance of gaming as a whole. Following on from the massive growth that has transformed Macau over the past 20 years, there is no doubt that nearby locales such as the Philippines and more recently Vietnam and Cambodia are recognising that gaming is not an industry to be feared but embraced as a means to boost the economy. In Australia, where I grew up, there remains some ground to make up when it comes to public perception – a fact not helped by a largely anti-gambling media who, like Japan, struggles to grasp the concept of the IR. Despite this, Star Entertainment Group in particular is making tremendous strides in its vision of promoting the east coast of Australia as a one-of-a-kind experience for foreign tourists – bolstered by the company’s own world-class facilities in Sydney, Brisbane and the Gold Coast. Education remains the key to getting these messages across, but if Japan’s business community is anything to go by then perhaps we are indeed on the right track.