Inside Asian Gaming

IAG OCT 2021年10月 亞博匯 74 JAPAN worked hard to connect with the local people since first announcing its “Yokohama First” strategy in September 2019. Its community initiatives have included an event called “Smart Summer” in Motomachi, Yokohama, which aimed to support local tourism and economic growth by drawing crowds to the district. Likewise, Melco’s sponsorship of professional football team Yokohama F Marinos saw the two organizations sign a partner contract earlier this year to provide support for select shopping streets across the city. The “Stay Strong Together and Support our Hometown Shopping Streets!” project saw five streets invited to a Yokohama F Marinos home game where a shopping street support video, produced by Melco, introduced the participating streets on the stadium’s large screens. Supported by free tickets and signed goods giveaways plus social media posts to promote sales, the project aimed to increase awareness of shopping options in areas impacted by COVID-19. Within the IR itself, Melco was also planning to develop a dedicated food and beverage space, called Bamboo Village, specifically for local restaurateurs to open businesses, as well as a similar concept for local retailers. A senior Melco executive mentioned, “We didn’t want to be the foreigners coming in to dictate things.” Melco President Winkler told IAG , “One of the