Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has assessed the importance of casinos in the state and told that they are a very important part of the tourism industry as they attract tourists.

“During one of the media interviews, I was asked whether I support casinos. Casinos are one of the important parts of tourism as they attract tourists… of course, it is there,” Sawant said.

“We are getting direct and indirect revenue from the tourism industry. Now it depends on the stakeholders how to grow the industry, while the government can provide necessary infrastructure for them. We want to make it 100%,” Sawant added.

The Government of Goa has recently announced plans to ban residents from entering casino floors. However, the authorities did not set any timeline for the implementation of such a controversial measure.

“I am of the opinion that Goans should not be allowed in casinos. The Goa Gambling Policy makes it clear that casinos are allowed only for tourism purpose and not for Goans to visit. We have to sit and fix a date to ban Goa residents from casinos. They would be barred from entering offshore and onshore casinos,” Sawant said.

The Osaka City Planning Council has agreed to change Yumeshima island to a commercial zone from its current status as an industrial or semi-industrial zone. The change in status of the zone is to promote Yumeshima as an international tourist hub and develop an integrated resort (IR).

“We will guide reasonable land usage for the purpose of creating a new international tourism hub on the coastal area. It is easily accessible from the city and it is possible to secure a large amount of land,” the Council said.

Yumeshima, an artificial island in Osaka Bay, will host the World Expo 2025. Japan is planning to develop integrated resorts before the World Expo 2025. The development of Yumeshima will be worth around JPY 95.4 billion. The city will extend its Osaka Metro Central Line and will connect Yumeshima to the city.

More than 10,000 Chinese citizens employed in the online gambling industry in Cambodia have been reportedly leaving, following the banning of gambling in the country.

Local news outlets from the Cambodian city of Sihanoukville, a coastal casino hub, reports that a large number of Chinese employees have left the area. The Cambodian government has announced that all online-gambling operations in the country will be banned with effect from early 2020. Almost all the gambling websites, conducting illegal operations, employ Chinese citizens. Most of their customers are also Chinese.

It may be noted that gambling is illegal in China. But many Chinese nationals engage with illegal gambling websites from neighboring countries. Even the Cambodian government’s ban on online gambling is said to be under pressure from China. There are also reports that China pressurizing the Philippines to ban all kinds of gambling in the country.