Hard Rock set to land in Tomakomai
The casino operator may open its office in the Hokkaido city next September as casino legislation is set to happen this month.
Japan.- The current Diet session has been extended in Japan in order to pass the integrated resorts (IR) implementation bill and get the casino industry legalised. That’s why Hard Rock International has announced it will soon open its office in Tomakomai, over the Hokkaido prefecture.
According to Hard Rock’s senior vice president for casino business development in Asia, Daniel Cheng, “September is the plan” to land in the Japanese city. The official confirmed to GGRAsia that the company is almost ready to open shop in Japan, as the US-based casino operator rates Tomakomai as “the most suitable location” in the prefecture, but said the company had not “disavowed any of the other [possible] locations” for a casino resort in the country.
Should the bill get passed in the House of Councillors (before the new deadline set for July 22nd), the casino industry will be able to arrive in Japan and it is expected that the first licences will be issued by 2020. Integrated resorts would then be built in three different locations in the archipelago and forecasts have them beginning operations around 2025.
