IR development will increase tourism in Yokohama: Mayor

Mayor Toshihide Hirahara talks up the potential economic benefit Yokohama can enjoy should it be granted a licence to develop an IR.

Japan.- Yokohama Deputy Mayor, Toshihide Hirahara, has talked up the economic potential should the region be granted one of three integrated resort licences up for grabs.

Hirahara was speaking on the second day of the inaugural IR Expo being held in Yokohama this week.

Despite opposition efforts to block the licensing and construction of IRs in the country, he said an integrated resort would increase tourism and raise much-needed taxes for the city.

“The rate of growth in the number of foreign visitors to our area is low when we consider the national rate, and 80% of trips are day trips,” he said.

“There is a decrease in the population and a decrease in collected taxes – JPY 2.5 trillion (US$23 billion) is required to repair roads managed by the city, to rebuild elementary and junior high schools and for disaster countermeasures,” he added.

The proposed sites is 47 hectares of Yamashita Wharf with estimates of up to 40 million annual visitors should an IR be constructed on the land. This would lead to an estimated economic ripple effect of JPY 650 billion (US$6 billion) to 1.2 trillion (US$11 billion).