Kansai IR Expo reveals rapid growth of the gaming industry

The scale of the Kansai IR Industrial Expo held in Osaka on May 15 and 16 testified to the rapid rate of growth of the gaming industry in Japan as it was clearly much larger than its predecessor event held a year ago in the same city.

Last year at this time the IR Implementation Bill had not yet become law, nor had Osaka yet won its bid the host the 2025 World Expo. In that sense, it is only natural that the size of the event has increased.

Seven international IR operators participated in this year’s IR Expo. Six of these—Caesars, Galaxy, Genting, Melco, MGM, and Sands—were returning for a second year, while Wynn was the new addition.

The scale of the displays of each operator were also more impressive this year—with the exception of Melco, which was the biggest spender last year but produced a more modest display this year. Many top executives gave presentations to an attentive audience of hundreds of Japanese businesspeople.

Aside from the international IR operators, there was also a notably large contingent of local small- and medium-sized businesses and organizations managing booths.

 

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