Inside Asian Gaming

IAG OCT 2021年10月 亞博匯 70 JAPAN One of the key features of Melco’s IR was to be a Welcome Hub, located at the entrance to the IR and envisioned as a new gateway to Japan for tourists. “A lot of emphasis in the IR bid was for the IR to become a center of tourism into Japan,” said Winckler. “If you look at the classification of boxes to tick [as per Japan’s stated IR goals] it includes Japan attractiveness – pushing people into Japan – so the entry of the IR had to be something that sent you into Japan to discover the country. “TheWelcome Hub was to have a lot of interactive rides and activities, food, dedicated sections with information about Japan and its regions. It would tell people what to do and where to do it, and travel agents would have been based there to make it all happen.” 全球奢侈品牌亦同意在此開設零售空間，Winckler將其描述 為「類似在此再造一個東京銀座——橫濱沒有這樣的地方。」 他說：「我們追求帶來一定程度的熱情好客和旅遊業，將人 們帶到橫濱，讓他們在這座城市度過一段時間，然後繼續遊覽這 個國家。」 新濠總裁Evan Winkler表示，該公司「一直相信橫濱將受益 於這個最高級、世界級的IR提案，該提案將反映到城市的生活方 式、文化和特徵，讓世界看到。我們將致力於卓越的設計、質量 和工藝，我們專注於將藝術、設計和建築結合到我們的綜合度假 村方案中，反映日本豐富的人文和美學等文化遺產。」 「放眼未來，這個項目將打造一個新的橫濱，一個可以被視 為未來幾年全球娛樂、休閒、體育和會展的頂級目的地。」 此外，在新濠此次IR設計中，將體育視為可對該市長期發展 做出貢獻的關鍵領域。若其IR得以實現，其中一個計劃，就是跟 隨了該公司品牌代言人、網球巨星大阪直美的建議，在綜合度假 村中興建一間體育中心。 大阪直美曾向該開發商表示，為人們提供不同的體育選項非 常重要，因為在她的成長過程中以及現在受訓期間，她都不會只 打網球，而是會玩一系列不同的運動。 The substantial MICE facility, another key component of Japan’s IR ambition, was designed to meet international expectations – “a level of MICE that does not exist in Japan,” as Winckler explains it – with the ability to convert to a concert space to allow for seasonality. The facility was also to be environmentally focused, with the roof comprising solar paneling, greenery on all sides and the world’s largest vertical garden at 500 meters long and 40 meters high. Use of this garden was to be handed over to local farmers and the herbs and vegetables it produced used by the IRs restaurants. A retail space, already agreed upon by global luxury brands, is described by Winckler as being “similar to building a second Ginza [in Tokyo] – something Yokohama doesn’t have. A large avenue was planned to run diagonally through the center of the IR providing a direct line of sight to two existing Yokohama landmarks. 一條大道將斜穿過IR中心，可直接 看到橫濱的現有的兩大地標。