Nagasaki’s education sector steps up to teach next generation about casino management
Ahead of a potential new integrated resort in Nagasaki, a consortium of public institutions is being formed to support the education of young people, who may eventually work at the prospective venue or in related industries.
Asia Gaming Brief reports that the group, called “Consortium to Promote the Development of International Tourism Personnel” in direct translation from Japanese, is being launched by four constituent members – Nagasaki International University, the University of Nagasaki, the Nagasaki prefectural government and the Sasebo municipal government.
It may be expanded to other institutions in the Kyushu region in the future.
A non-public meeting was held between about 20 officials at the end of last week to begin the preparatory discussions, which focused on the organisational structure needed to create a common base for human resources development.
An academic specialist in international hotel management and dean of the Department of International Tourism at Nagasaki International University Hideya Inoue was appointed chairman.
The official launch of the organisation will come only if Nagasaki’s bid to host an integrated resort is accepted by the central government.
It was reported in February 2020 that Nagasaki International University was mulling the establishment of an integrated resort management course at the prodding of the prefectural government.
This consortium appears to be a further elaboration on that plan.
In the summer of 2018, the University of Macau’s Global Leadership Development Program conducted an integrated resort management course for about 60 students in Nagasaki, including local Japanese business people and government officials, as well as some students from Macau.
Nagasaki inches closer to identifying preferred casino partner
As the race for one of Japan’s three integrated resorts licences heats up, the Nagasaki prefecture introduced a rule in March that prevented anyone from holding a minimum of five per cent stake in any local integrated resort bid from bidding for other locations.
The rule was allegedly always part of Nagasaki’s bidding rules, but was reiterated in the wake of Nagasaki culling its list of five potential operations to three: Casinos Austria International Japan, NIKI Chyua Fwu Group and Oshidori Consortium.
A Nagasaki official confirmed that “after submitting the second round screening documents in June 2021, those who plan to fund five per cent or more of the project are not allowed to participate in another private operator selection process related to specific complex tourist facilities in Japan.”
Asked about the basis of the five per cent rule, the official said: “There are no previous examples to go off of, so this is an original rule made by Nagasaki prefecture. It was decided based on consultation with legal counsel and others employed for the RFP and other processes.”
An industry stakeholder said that the rule makes sense.
“You don’t see professional athletes playing for multiple teams. Even if one company applied for multiple candidate locations, it would be difficult to be selected. I think it’s best to focus on just one location.”
The successful candidate to operate a Nagasaki integrate resort is expected to be announced at the end of August.
Nagasaki’s selection schedule going forward will include a detailed integrity character investigation in May, followed by submission of additional operator documents in June and presentations by applicants in August.
Nagasaki emphasised that the documentation required for this round would be final proposals from each of the candidates.
