Small Hope for New Online Casino Market
The opening of the Asian land and internet gambling industry could be so much
closer than anyone ever assumed as the Japanese market is eyed as the next
destination for land and online casinos. Although Macau is hugely profitable and
has been for several years, most of the Pacific-Asian countries have continued
to impose their strong regulations and restrictions against the land and online
casino gambling industries. But seemingly out of the blue, the ruling party in
Japan, the Liberal Democratic Party, has expressed an interest in exploring the
possibility of opening Japan to land and online gambling.
This new interest likely arises from several key factors, the global economic
crisis has meant that countries everywhere and government budget around the
world are in crunch mode and are having some severe problems as recession looms
(and has been realized in the US). Another key factor is that tourism is down in
Japan and that means that less foreign currency is coming into the country –
creating destination land casinos could be a viable way to boost tourism into
the country. Additionally, the booming success of Macau is a strong indication
to other Asian governments that regulation is effective and land and online
casinos can be highly profitable if they are taxed effectively.
There are certainly no promises at this point but many in the online casino
gambling industry are watching this situation closely for new developments. The
Liberal Democratic Party has entered into some very preliminary and basic
initial discussions about the possibility of a Japanese gambling market – now
it’s up to the gambling companies to make a strong case for themselves. |