Students at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) have become among the first in the world to compile a formal proposal for a Japanese Integrated Resort, including mission statements, design, marketing and branding strategies and cultural considerations.
As reported by the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the students – from UNLV’s International Gaming Institute – were asked by Professor Bo Bernhard to develop their full proposals which were then presented to Las Vegas casino executives directly involved in Japan IR plans for the likes of Las Vegas Sands, MGM Resorts and Wynn Resorts.
Important questions to consider in the assignment included how many resorts, their location, key resort features and how the ownership structure might work. Most notable however, according to Professor Bernhard, was just how accurate his students’ conclusions were when compared to those of the major US operators – providing unique insight into which direction the operators are headed in Japan.
“We had celebrity judges from MGM in the crowd when [one of the students] presented – and they said that they arrived at the exact same market conclusions as she did in her analysis of the various locations for a Japan Integrated Resort,” Bernhard told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “Which is pretty remarkable, when you think about it, that she produced what a very-well-resourced major multinational did – as a grad student.”
Student Rebecca Ross, daughter of the former Chief Operating Officer of Coast Casinos, named Osaka as the preferred location with her Modoru resort to include a TopGolf facility on top of a 50-story tower as well as a 4,500 seat arena that could host sumo wrestling among other events.
“I had to see what the Japanese were interested in and what they held in high standards,” said Ross. “For instance, one of our hotel rooms … we had to implement things of luck because they are very interested in luck. We definitely had to implement the culture in the resort. The Japanese culture was the backbone of our resort.”
Another student, Nguyen Tran, came up with the concept of building the world’s tallest building at 180 stories which would connect to Narita International Airport by an 18-mile “SkyTram” transportation system. It would also boast an automated underground parking structure, a lobby on a glass surface with fish swimming beneath and four-dimensional elevators with glass floors.
Tran’s The Fantasy Hotel & Resort received an A+++ from the judges.
“I came up with these crazy ideas because the thing about Japan is that they have wonderful products,” he said. “We have a perception of Japan as somewhere incredible so I had to come up with something futuristic.”
