Hokkaido government mulling over Incorporated casino Hotel bid

In Japan, the authorities for the northern island of Hokkaido is allegedly hoping to decide by the end of the year whether it should join the race to sponsor one of the nation’s three forthcoming integrated casino hotels.

Special committee created:

According to a report by GGRAsia, prefecture officials earlier formed a special committee to advise them on whether the large island of just over 5.3 million inhabitants should submit an application for the right to sponsor one of the Las Vegas-style places, which are due to feature a casino along with other conveniences such as resorts, shops and conference centers .

GGRAsia reported that this working group contains tourism experts as well as people with experience in treating problem gambling. It held that the second of four planned meetings yesterday with the intention of running the remainder by the end of December in advance of formulating a formal recommendation.

Three competing places:

Should the authorities of Hokkaido finally opt to take its interest in obtaining a casino license to another level, the source reported that it would be asked to choose between one of three competing local authorities encompassing the port towns of Kushiro and Tomakomai along with the small rural mountain village of Rusutsu.

Tourism hot-spot:

Hokkaido is Japan’s northernmost territory and this place allegedly helps it to attract large numbers of visitors keen to escape the nation’s many urban conurbations so as to enjoy cool summers as well as ski-friendly winters. The largely rural island hosted the 1972 Winter Olympics and is easily achieved by people in the rest of the country by means of this 14.5-mile Seikan Railway Tunnel running under the Tsugaru Strait.

Interest currently high:

It was reported that Las Vegas-headquartered Caesars Entertainment Corporation has presented plans that would see it develop an integrated casino resort in Tomakomai in partnership with Canadian private equity firm, Clairvest Group Incorporated. In the same way, American gaming giant, Hard Rock International Incorporated recently declared that it intends to open an office in town of several 174,000 people later this year using the company ’s Asian Casino Business Development Senior Vice-President, Daniel Cheng, calling it ‘the most acceptable place ’ for such a land in Hokkaido.

This interest was prefaced in November when Sapporo-based tourism firm, Kamori Kanko Company Limited, detailed it would be partnering with local land developer, Niseko Alpine Developments Company Limited, to be able to spend up to $200 million redeveloping an existing leisure resort in Rusutsu. The latter firm ’s Chairman, Jonathan Martin, declared at the time this all-Japanese enterprise would include ‘a powerful bid platform’ for an integrated casino resort.