NORTH ASIA 18
SOUTH KOREA
Signs of recovery seen amidst diversification efforts South Korea’s foreigner-only casinos are showing signs of renewed growth, helped by the Winter Olympic games and operator efforts to diversify their visitor base.
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ales at the properties were hit hard last year after China banned tour groups to the country in protest at Seoul’s decision to deploy a U.S. anti-missile defence system. Beijing began relaxing that ban in November last year, though it’s unclear whether it has been lifted entirely. According to industry data released by the Korea Casino Association, sales in January and February reached KRW204.8 billion (US$191.6 million), representing an increase of 15.9 percent from the same period last year. The figures reflected a boost from additional visitors to Winter Olympics, which were held about 30 miles north of Kangwon Land, the only place in the country where locals are permitted to gamble. The state-owned resort had been widely expected to be a key beneficiary of the games. However, the data also showed an increase in the number of visitors to the nation’s 16 foreigner-only casinos, up 1.6 percent in the first
Asia Gaming Briefings | May 2018
two months of the year to 366,000 - due mainly to increased visitors from Japan. The number of Chinese visitors continued to decline, with a fall of 3.2 percent in January and 5.2 percent in February.
We are seeing a “turnaround this year, thanks to a steady increase of tourists from Japan.
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“Chinese visitors are still the biggest group of customers at foreigner-only casinos, but their number continues to fall,” a casino industry official said. “We are seeing a turnaround this year, thanks to a steady
increase of tourists from Japan.” The number of visitors from Taiwan also fell 16.7 percent in January but increased 32.3 percent in February, according to the data. According to Korea Tourism Organisation figures, the number of Chinese visitors to South Korea plunged by 48 percent in 2017. The sector makes up almost a third of its total tourism base. Much of the optimism that had surrounded the expansion of the casino sector in the country came from the rising tide of tourists from China, for whom the K-pop phenomena and Korean culture hold a strong appeal. Seoul is also just a two-hour flight from Beijing, making it much closer for travellers from Northern China than Macau. The prospects attracted a flurry of interest from foreign investors, including Caesars Entertainment, the Mohegan Sun, Genting and Landing International. However, an outbreak of Middle Eastern
