Casinos Austria details its proposal for Nagasaki integrated resort

After Japan's Nagasaki Prefecture Government signed a master agreement with Casinos Austria International Japan (CAIJ) to develop an integrated resort (IR) in Kyushu-Nagasaki area, the company released on Friday, October 1 the details for its proposed building which could be located at the Sasebo city’s Huis Ten Bosch if Nagasaki wins one of three casino licenses to be awarded by the government. 

Casinos Austria International believes its Nagasaki resort would need an investment of $3.2 billion and will attract up to 8.4 million visitors each year, creating 30,000 jobs and generating $2.9 billion for the economy. 

Casinos Austria International plans to operate a 9,000 square meter casino as part of its project, with 220 gaming tables and 2,200 slot machines. It is said it will be located at the Huis Ten Bosch theme park, where Nagasaki Prefecture plans to develop an integrated casino resort with eight hotels, multiple conference and exhibition centers as well as a variety of entertainment complexes in cooperation with renowned international and Japanese partners.

As it already operates 25 casinos worldwide, the proposal focuses on Casino Austria International’s “know-how”, the strict scrutiny it is subject to as a government-owned corporation (its parent firm is one third owned by the Austria government), and its connections to top music assemblies such as Vienna Boys’ Choir and the Vienna Chamber Orchestra, as well as connections with historical art collections. 

In the proposal, the CAI said: “We will construct an IR appealing to all CAI’s full support and safety and security as the top priorities. We will come together with Nagasaki prefecture and Kyushu’s corporations to create an area development plan in order to gain approval for Kyushu/Nagasaki as an IR area”.

“We strive to achieve the highest level of business operations in the world, focusing first and foremost on ensuring thorough compliance and exclusion of all harmful influences, allowing absolutely no unlawfulness, bribery or corruption, quoting credibility and sustainability as the most important aspects in achieving a Kyushu/Nagasaki IR. We aim to achieve world class standards to counter these major concerns”, it added, regarding considerations for problem gambling, maintaining safety, disaster prevention, disease control and healthy youth development. 

The proposal focuses on multiple indoor facilities using modern Japan as the base concept, a European-style casino designed in the Austrian style as a “grown-up social meeting place” and a foreign-run hotel as selling points. 

Casinos Austria Director General Bettina Glatz-Kremsne spoke about the proposal and said: “By passing this milestone in the tender process in Japan, Casinos Austria International has once again demonstrated the excellent reputation that the company enjoys abroad. Following its comprehensive restructuring process, CAI is now fully back on track and continues to impress potential clients with its know-how and expertise in the development and operation of complex projects like this one in Japan. I wish Casinos Austria International under the management of Christoph ZuruckerBurda all the best and sincerely hope that they will be awarded one of the three licenses next year in partnership with Nagasaki Prefecture.”