Nagasaki could open its first IR in 2025
Prefecture keen to push ahead with an IR should it receive one of three licences up for grabs.
Japan.- Nagasaki has said that if the Huis Ten Bosch area in Sasebo City, Nagasaki, is certified in 2021, an IR could be open as early as 2025, according to Inside Asian Gaming.
In December, the prefecture published its Implementation Policy Draft, which includes plans for a possible IR and the process they would use to identify an operator partner. It also said that the RFP process for a casino resort will be selected in Autumn 2020.
The IR site area is 31 hectares within the Huis Ten Bosch theme park, and the adjacent port and public harbour areas are also being taken into consideration. It will have a hall for 12,000 people.
Three companies have already publicly confirmed their participation in the RFP phase: Oshidori International Holdings Ltd, a Hong Kong-listed investment holding firm; Japan’s Current Corp; and Casinos Austria International Holding GmbH.
Investments in IR projects are now expected to come in between JPY350 billion (US$3.2 billion) and JPY460 billion (US$4.3 billion), and annual visitation between 6.9 million and 9.3 million people.
Nagasaki Governor, Hodo Nakamura, said last week that building an integrated casino resort in the prefecture could create between 28,000-36,000 new jobs.
