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Following a down year in Las Vegas, where visitor volume slowed 7.5%, the casino town has stabilized and rebounded in 2026, albeit only slightly. The LVCVA says visitor volume was up 0.5% through July.
Room rates for Strip properties have increased 3.5% in 2026. Strip occupancy is flat from a year ago.
What is Panda Blitz?
Given that women account for nearly 60% of gaming customers in the US, Klebanow argues that Japan’s IRs should instead offer environments where this demographic feels “safe and comfortable”. The key lesson from pachinko, he concludes, is therefore “not to create gaming environments that mimic them”.
Ultimately Leckert remains positive on Japan’s IR opportunity. “Stringent regulation really supports a strong industry,” she says. “I don’t see those being at odds with one another, because it’s been done very successfully elsewhere.”
Japan’s ability to lure back the world’s biggest casino developers will hinge on the regulatory framework the government unveils later this year, says Klebanow.
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“It started off pretty good when the new management and the spin-off was completed,” he comments. “They had a really good pipeline of customers, and I mean, their projections looked pretty solid.
“[But] part of that was some sweepstakes operators, and I think that market became a bit more uncertain compared to when they started to look at those kinds of customers. And then they also had, they called it a tier one customer I think in Brazil, which was supposed to launch in early 2026, but then they decided not to enter that market. So I think they had some opportunities that did not end up as expected.”
While Ahlberg explains GiG is experiencing B2B headwinds, he also views the 888Africa deal as an opportunistic one. This is confirmed by Richards, who describes the acquisition as a “targeted, opportunistic move” with “compelling” economics.
