Integrated Resort

Asian Recovery or More of the Same?

Posted on November 30, 2021

Heading into 2020, it looked as though the gaming world would continue on its track of expansion in Asia.  Macau was two years out from concession renewal. The Philippines was seeing strong growth in gaming and tourism.  Jurisdictions such as Cambodia, Vietnam and others were seeing strong growth in their existing facilities with new projects being announced along the way.

Yet, it was shortly after the start of that year that the world began to change, and change rapidly.  Macau initially shut down for two weeks, and the rest of the world soon followed with what still remains for many jurisdictions that are in Great Shutdown mode. Gaming revenue evaporated quickly. Timelines for expansion disintegrated. Concession renewals in Macau were put in limbo other than a two-year extension to put all of the concessionaires on the same timeline for renewals.  Heading into 2022, there are just as many uncertainties as portions of Asia finally began to reemerge rom nearly two years of lockdown.

 

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10 Trends for 2022 – Japan Crosses the First Finish Line

Posted on November 30, 2021

With the Olympics being a made-for-TV event, Japan was never able to achieve its tourism goal of reaching 40 million visitors in 2021. Looking back on 2021, the total foreign visitor volume may only amount to roughly 30,000. While border restrictions are starting to relax to a three-day quarantine, Japan has only seen 25,900 visitors through the end of October.

Japan has a new prime minister, Fumio Kishida, who recently just secured the hold that his party, the Liberal Democratic Party, has on the Lower House of the Diet that will ensure that IRs remain on track as the country begins to loosen its restrictions from the Great Shutdown.

Japan, which has one of the highest vaccination rates in the world, will need to have IRs become a catalyst as it looks to restore and build upon its pre-pandemic tourist volumes.  With the Olympics in the rearview, IRs remain the single biggest opportunity for tourism and further investment in the country.

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Nix the Economic Incentives – Gaming is a driver that does not require handouts

Posted on November 2, 2021

Any development project in any industry will have various levels of economic impact. This includes the number of jobs it will create, the investment that is brought into the project, and the economic spillover.  Whether developing a new project on a greenfield site or a brownfield site, or redeveloping a building or area within a community, any development around the globe will bring these economic impacts.

When major industries look toward developments, and when cities look to attract new sectors or build upon existing developments, state and local governments will put forward a series of tax incentives, grants or other tools to lure these businesses to cities.  These includes big businesses that typically bring hundreds of thousands of good-paying jobs in manufacturing, technology and other sectors along with some level of investment into a facility.

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Research Brief: Paving the Regulatory Future for IRs in Japan – May 2021

Posted on June 2, 2021

As the world continues to face numerous challenges and rebounds from the pandemic, most countries around the world remain closed to outsiders. Japan and others throughout Asia are trying to find a way to reopen but have had to implement new restrictions and emergency orders. In Japan, these have been most recently extended until the end of May in numerous parts of the country. This is further complicated by the upcoming Olympics and the inability to host foreigner visitors to the market. Olympic-sized problems surround this event in terms of not just the general logistics of hosting the Games, which were supposed to be a shining moment for this proud country, but also the public sentiment that is growing against hosting the games. A recent online petition had hundreds of thousands of signatures calling for the cancellation of the event, with at least nine of Japan’s 47 prefectural governors concurring with the petition. These issues further cloud Japan’s recovery in general terms and with regard to the hospitality industry, especially on the tourism goals established by the government.

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Betting on Brazil – The opportunities are plentiful but challenges lie ahead

Posted on March 25, 2021

Betting on Brazil

Latin America continues to present itself as one of the greatest opportunities for gaming expansion. While it is home to a number of existing markets, there continue to be more opportunities for existing and new market players as expansion and reform take place in the Southern Hemisphere.

One of the greatest opportunities in Latin America remains in Brazil, due to its size, scope and potential offerings from both and expansion and reform perspective. However, the market still has its challenges as it considers next steps for lottery, sports betting, integrated resorts, and other potential forms of gaming.

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Windy City Gaming: Chicago will finally plant its flag for a casino development

Posted on February 17, 2021

Casinos in urban environments, not always the norm, have offered challenges in certain jurisdictions.

Major markets such as Philadelphia have had casinos near downtown for years. Pittsburgh and Detroit also feature casino gaming in downtown settings. The Washington, D.C. market, with MGM National Harbor, has also made an impact. But in recent years, more developers have embraced urban environments to meld properties into the fabric of the greater communities they serve. Two of the more recent examples were in Massachusetts, with MGM Springfield and Encore Boston Harbor.

Some of the greatest opportunities for gaming expansion in the United States remain in urban settings. For years, New York, Atlanta, Miami, Dallas and Houston have been seen as potential expansion sites. But the most immediate opportunity exists in Chicago, which will locate a gaming development within the city itself.

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2020 Trends: Latin America

Posted on December 20, 2020

The gaming market throughout Latin America continues to emerge. While gaming has been a strong form of entertainment, Latin America can be a mystery to some that have not followed it as closely. Like Asia, it remains one of the great opportunities for expansion in the industry on a wide scale, from sports betting to further development of brick-and-mortar facilities from Mexico to Brazil to Uruguay.

Many of these governments at all levels continue to face challenges as they had relied on gaming as a source of tax revenue prior to the Covid-19 pandemic as revenue is still rebounding. This has further put burdens on governments, as those employed in gaming have also struggled in 2020 with facilities operating under limited function post-shutdown and in some cases will remain closed until the end of 2020.

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2020 Trends: Japan

Posted on December 20, 2020

Like the rest of the world, the development of integrated resorts in Japan has been significantly stalled because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Japan is just beginning to reemerge as it is now starting to allow foreigners back into the country. While many speculated that 2020 would be a robust year for the integrated resorts, it looks like Covid, like the rest of the world, will push IRs back into 2021 as things finally start to move down the road.

Earlier this year, Japan transitioned from Prime Minister Shinzo Abe stepping down for health reasons to the current Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga. Suga, who was Abe’s top lieutenant, has been a strong proponent of the integrated resorts initiative. His ascendancy was the ideal outcome in terms of the succession from Abe. Suga will not be a caretaker prime minister and wants to leave his own stamp over the next year coming into a fresh election next September.

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Strip Reset: COVID-19 is definitely challenging, but does the crisis present opportunities for a Vegas makeover?

Posted on May 16, 2020

Las Vegas soared until recent years, but we’ve reached the tipping point, where it’s necessary for the Strip to redefine itself again. Las Vegas is like no other place in the world. It’s the entertainment and sports capital of the world. It has the most amazing resorts. It just needs to remember our industry’s roots, redeliver on customer service, and provide value.

Covid-19 has devastated the industry and the greater Las Vegas economy. With the resulting industry shutdown, the city must take the opportunity to develop a strategy to reopen, reinvigorate and recapture its guests.

For the first time in well over a decade, both Caesars Entertainment and MGM Resorts, which between them operate 18 Las Vegas Strip resorts, have new leadership teams. These teams are comprised of seasoned casino industry professionals—not outsiders from professions other than hospitality—who have the ability to make these changes.

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Social Safeguards: How Singapore set a new standard in addressing responsible gambling

Posted on January 27, 2020

As Singapore continues to serve as the model for IR development, it has also become one of the current models to address the promotion of responsible gaming measures and casino exclusion policies for its two integrated resorts.

At the time of inception, these cutting-edge initiatives allowed for a different model for individuals to be excluded from the casino, limited the floor size of the facilities, created a publicentity to promote responsible gaming efforts, and created partnerships with operators to work with the government in creating an environment of responsible gaming. It also introduced a casino levy for locals with the option of a daily or yearly fee.

The two operators in the market, Las Vegas Sands (Marina Bay Sands) and Genting Singapore (Resorts World Sentosa), initially had to develop internal responsible gaming education and training programs. These initiatives have continued to evolve over the course of time as more research has become available and the market has matured. The programs include an initial and annual training that offers employees the ability to understand the signs of problem gambling, as well as how to respond and support a guest. It also includes support in the form of high level specialists that offer a higher level of knowledge on responsible gaming measures and how best to handle a guest that may need further assistance.

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