Inside Asian Gaming

IAG JAN 2020年1月 亞博匯 40 Chubu Centrair International Airport is Japan's eighth busiest airport. 中部國際機場是日本第八大繁忙機場。 COVER STORY 5. TOKONAME CITY (AICHI PREFECTURE) Tokoname City population: 57,000 Nagoya City population: 2.3 million Prefecture population: 7.6 million Chukyo metropolitan area population: 10 million Suitors: unknown IR would be right next to Chubu Centrair International Airport, which services Nagoya, Japan’s third largest metropolitan region Land is immediately available • • • • • • • and of Wakayama politics in general. The IR site is on an artificial island created around 25 years ago, so construction could begin as soon as a license is awarded. Wakayama Marina City has an established yacht harbor and a national training center for marine sports. The Wakayama local government has even gone so far as to strike a deal with the current owner of the proposed 20.5 hectare IR site to buy the land for US$70 million should Wakayama’s IR bid be successful. The reason? So that Wakayama can re- sell the land to their eventual IR partner at the same price, thus locking in the land cost for the operator, freeing them from the burden of any future price fluctuations. In December, Wakayama announced that if the national basic policy for IR bids is finalized in January 2020, as is hoped, it will begin operator recruitment by the Spring and select an operator in the Fall. Just like Nagasaki, their goal is to have the IR doors open by 2024. So far, three companies have shown interest in a Wakayama IR: Barrière, Bloomberry Resorts and Suncity Group. Governor Nisaka brims with confidence. In a May 2019 interview with IAG , he said, “In my personal opinion, objectively speaking, Wakayama is sure to win one of the licenses. And I strongly believe that the (national) government will have the same opinion. This project is very promising and that’s why we are so keen.” TIER 3: CITIES STILL CONSIDERING A BID Tokoname City is home to Chubu Centrair International Airport, about 45 minutes by train south