Suntory CEO Takeshi Niinami said that Japan will experience "enormous economic losses", after spectators were barred from the ongoing Olympic Games in Tokyo this year. His company is also suffering.
"I expected a lot of spectators from abroad to visit," he told CNN Business in an exclusive interview. Instead of signing on as an official sponsor, Suntory decided “to tie up with restaurants and bars around the sporting venues to promote its drinks, and open several establishments to serve its products exclusively,” CNN Business reported. "I thought that this occasion would be very much a showcase for us," Niinami was quoted.
"I don't know why the Games were not delayed," he questioned the hugely controversial decision to hold the Olympics under a state of emergency due to the coronavirus pandemic. In a recent survey nearly 80% of the respondents in Japan were against holding the Olympic Games now.
