Inside Asian Gaming

IAG AUG 2021年8月 亞博匯 68 JAPAN only MGM Resorts behind – included Galaxy Entertainment Group, Genting Singapore, Las Vegas Sands, Melco Resorts & Entertainment and Wynn Resorts. Today, only two of those candidates – Genting Singapore and Melco Resorts – remain, with the others having withdrawn at various stages over the past 15 months, attributing their change of heart to either the economic impact of COVID-19 or Japan’s strict regulations. Yet even as Yokohama’s RFP process gathers steam, two pressing issues threaten to stop this IR train in its tracks. The first is Tokyo. Japan’s capital city has never put its hand up to host an integrated resort, but it has never ruled itself out either. Rumors have abounded that Tokyo will eventually enter the fray and might have done so already if it weren’t for the not-so-small distraction of the Tokyo Olympic Games. If so, then it seems the 12-month delay to the Olympics as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic may have scuppered any chance of Tokyo declaring itself a late arrival at the IR starting gates. That’s good news for Yokohama in the short term given that, under Japan’s IR legislation, the government must wait at least seven years after issuing these first three licences before it can consider issuing any more. Even so, the threat of Tokyo one day building an IR of its own and stealing away a hefty chunk of Yokohama’s customer pool will always remain. More pressing for Yokohama however is the upcoming mayoral election on 22 August. Covered in more detail in another article in this issue by IAG Resorts World Sentosa has proven hugely successful for Genting Singapore. 事實證明，聖淘沙名勝世界對於雲頂新加坡而言獲得巨大成功。