Inside Asian Gaming

IAG MAY 2020年5月 亞博匯 76 JAPAN of local residents, the “yeas” outnumbered the “nays.” Under Japan’s IR system design, there is a rule that requires the consent of the relevant councils at the time of renewal a number of years after establishment. SK: How is Nagasaki coping with the COVID-19 outbreak that is raging throughout the world? MK: Just like other prefectures we have canceled events and, of course, decreased inbound travel. We are taking measures to keep the effects to a minimum based on the national government’s actions. SK: Have you considered measures to have in place after the IR opens in case of a future pandemic or a disaster? MK: For such a situation, we plan to establish a headquarters for such measures within the prefectural office and take measures in cooperation with related cities and towns, and the operator. At this point in time we are already considering providing, for example, the massive MICE facilities as an evacuation site in case of a disaster. However, it will be a private facility, so this will have to be discussed with the operator. SK: More immediately, the issue of Tsushima Island, which is part of Nagasaki Prefecture, has worsened Japan-South Korea relations and resulted in a sharp decrease in tourists from South Korea. Are issues such as these and the impact they can have on tourism a concern in the long-term? MK: We are also considering measures to ensure regional balance so there won’t be too much of a deviation in visitors from certain regions, such as attracting more international air routes. In the short term, I think our main demographic will be wealthy visitors from China, but if we rely solely on that, it does of course come with political risk, so we are conscious that we need to disperse the risk as much as possible while consulting with the selected IR operator. In the medium-term, we hope to refine the IR in 在短期內，我認為我們的主要遊客將是來自中國的富有的遊 客，但如果我們僅依賴這一點，那當然會有政治風險。我們意識到 需要盡可能分散風險，同時要和選定的IR運營商諮詢。 中期計劃方面，我們希望完善IR，以吸引來自包括東南亞、歐 洲及美洲等世界各地的客人。 SK:最近有報導稱該地區存在更多反對人士。您能對此有所闡釋 嗎？ MK: 到目前為止，我們已經在附近地區舉行了20場情況介紹會。 近期的情況並非完全是反對。周邊地區的居民希望繼續在安全的 環境下生活。由於持續的擔憂，人們呼籲建立一個交換意見和能 進行討論的場所。 我們希望了解各種觀點並為此創建各種機會， 我們將繼續舉行由縣市提供詳盡解釋的簡報會，以增進居民對此 的了解，並解決他們可能遇到的任何疑慮。 SK:這些擔憂到底是甚麼呢？ MK : 一個普遍的擔憂是隨著遊客數量增加，交通會變得擁擠。 另 一個則是，景觀將會改變。 SK:豪斯登堡主要是年輕人、小學旅行或家庭度假的目的地。而當 IR開放時，這種情況可能依舊會繼續。您對此有何想法？ MK: 我們可以仿效其他國家的例子，把娛樂場藏到隔墻後面，並 設立其他路線。我們希望打造一個吸引從兒童到老年人等各個年 齡段的目的地。 SK:在等待政府發牌期間您覺得還面臨哪些障礙？ MK: 我們在交通運輸和基礎設施方面均有待改進，理想情況下， 我們可以在這方面取得進展，並增加獲得獲得發牌的機會。競標 不是最終目標，它只是我們希望踏上漫長道路的起點。我們每天 都在為這個項目努力，同時保持眼望遠處的目光 。