Travel agency H.I.S. to sell shares in ‘Huis Ten Bosch’ resort

TOKYO (Kyodo) — Major Japanese travel company H.I.S. Co. aims to provide its shares in the Dutch-themed “Huis 10 Bosch” seaside resort in Sasebo, Nagasaki Prefecture, in southwestern Japan, resources close to the issue explained Thursday.

The Tokyo-based mostly organization is looking at its earnings deteriorate above a extended slump in overseas journey owing to the coronavirus pandemic and losses racked up by a subsidiary in the electrical power retailing company.

H.I.S. owns two-thirds of the shares in vacation resort operator Huis Ten Bosch Co. and is expected to market them for “tens of billions of yen” to companies such as an expenditure company in Hong Kong, the sources claimed. The park itself will stay operational below a new proprietor.

Other Huis 10 Bosch shareholders, together with regional businesses Kyushu Electric powered Electrical power Co. and Kyushu Railway Co., also prepare to promote their shares at the exact time, the sources stated.

Meanwhile, the Nagasaki prefectural federal government has options to transform the place into a so-called integrated resort, which would consist of a casino.

“We are considering various designs this sort of as the transfer of shares to boost Huis 10 Bosch’s corporate and inventory value, but no particular final decision has been built at this time,” the journey company claimed in a assertion.

H.I.S. reported losses of 29.6 billion yen ($194 million) for the 50 %-year time period as a result of April thanks to the pandemic these types of as sluggish need for overseas travel. It was the most significant decline the firm, whose products and services incorporate flight bookings and offer tours, had ever documented for the interval.

In reaction, the enterprise has moved to concentrate on promising organizations while shedding other people. It has, for example, offered its energy-retailing subsidiary HTB Electrical power Co.

On the other hand, Huis 10 Bosch observed an operating revenue of 300 million yen in the 50 %-year time period via March, in comparison with an operating loss of 200 million yen in the exact same period of time previous year.

H.I.S.’s move to promote the topic park follows the earnings final results, together with the park operator’s return to black in 3 years on a 50 percent-year foundation, pushed largely by a restoration in visitor figures.