A government panel formulating rules to introduce casino gambling submitted a report to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Tuesday, aiming to make casinos attractive to foreign tourists while trying to mitigate potential social harm.
The government hopes to increase the number of foreign tourists to 40 million by 2020 and 60 million by 2030. The number of foreign visitors nearly tripled to a record 24.04 million in 2016 from 8.61 million in 2010.
The government hopes casinos will help sustain tourist numbers after the 2020 Tokyo Games and benefit regional economies.