Nagasaki prefecture in Japan has unveiled an updated economic impact paper, in which a lower figure for the maximum investment in integrated casino resort construction than the one shared in December 2019 was mentioned.
This has been the latest update of the construction price filed at the meeting of the prefecture’s assembly earlier this week. The economic impact paper mentions that the investment in a potential construction of so-called integrated casino resorts would be in the range from ¥350 billion to ¥460 billion. In comparison, the previous expectations shared by the Nagasaki prefecture in December 2019 mentioned investment spending ranging from ¥320 billion to ¥550 billion.
So far, there has been no clarity on whether the revised capital cost included transport infrastructure improvements or not. The aforementioned improvements could include a railway spur line or a pier for a special ferry service that would be used to bring visitors from nearby airports and ports to the site that the prefecture of Nagasaki had chosen to host the intended integrated casino resort. Local authorities have previously revealed that the desired IR is set to be situated at the Huis Ten Bosch theme park in the city of Sasebo.
The Provisional Price Range for Integrated Casino Resort Still Remains Pretty Large
Despite the recent reduction of the maximum price range of the IR investment, this provisional price range is still a lot bigger than the initial figure that was unveiled by the Nagasaki prefecture in April 2018. According to media reports at the time, the figure suggested by the local authorities amounted to ¥200 billion.
A few months ago, at the beginning of October 2019, Nagasaki authorities unveiled its request-for-concept (RFC) guidelines for potential commercial partners who could willing to operate a casino resort on the territory of the prefecture. At the time, no information regarding the possible economic impact that such a massive project could have on the region.
As mentioned above, earlier this week, the prefecture has revealed an update on the potential economic benefits that an integrated casino resort would have on the place. The prefecture shared that it is very likely for such an enterprise to attract between 6.9 million and 9.3 million visits on an annual basis. The same figure had been mentioned by the Nagasaki Shimbun newspaper in the middle of February 2020.
Towards the end of January this year, Nagasaki authorities have unveiled that they do not intend to make any changes in the timetable regarding its pursuit of hosting an integrated casino resort – a large complex combining both gambling and non-gambling facilities – regardless of the Japanese Government revealing at the time that there might be certain delay in the official announcement of the national basic policy on integrated casino resorts.
