Wakayama IR Committee holds first meeting
The Wakayama IR Experts Committee held its first meeting and discussed several topics related to the arrival of the casino industry in the prefecture.
Japan.- The casino race in Japan continues to develop, even though regulations have yet to arrive. That’s why the Wakayama IR Experts Committee held its first meeting to discuss the best way to bring an integrated resort (IR) to Marina City.
Tokyo University Professor Emeritus Motoshige Ito chairs the committee and explained the first meeting. “There was discussion about what could be done from experts in psychology and food culture,” he was quoted by AGBrief. “Also quite a bit of talk about other subjects such as tourism.”
Wakayama Governor Yoshinobu Nisaka also attended the meeting, alongside the other seven members. Former Kansai Electric Power Company Chairman Shosuke Mori, Greenberg Traurig Tokyo Office Managing Partner Koji Ishikawa. Furthermore, Washoku Japan Director Yoko Okubo and Japan Travel and Tourism Association Chairman Shigeto Kubo. Also, Kyoto University School of Government Honorary Fellow Hidetaka Saeki. Construction Industry Engineers Center Chairman Hiroaki Taniguchi, and Kyoto University Kokoro Research Center Professor Sakiko Yoshikawa.
Wakayama’s IR opening date
While many remain reluctant or are still assessing whether they’ll bid for an integrated resort (IR) the Wakayama prefecture already revealed that it plans to open its own venue in 2024, should it score a permit.
The government is confident it will be one of the three chosen to host the first IRs in the country. It was the only one, besides Osaka and Nagasaki, to voice their interest in the segment on the earlier stages. That’s why it has revealed further details, like the scheduled opening date or its location, near the Kansai International Airport in the Wakayama Marina City.
Wakayama has already set aside nearly €1.6 million in next year’s budget for IR-related research and other costs. The prefecture expects to get €2.4 billion in exchange. It projected it will receive four million visitors per year once the venue it’s finally opened.
