NORTH ASIA 12
SOUTH KOREA
Japanese gamers drive Paradise City revenue Sega Sammy and Paradise Co. are seeing a gradual ramp up in their Paradise City IR on Yeongjong Island, with increased visitation from Japan making up for the shortfall in Chinese arrivals due to last year’s travel ban.
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he resort opened in April last year, a month after China put a halt to tour groups in retaliation for South Korea’s decision to instal a U.S. anti-missile system on its territory. Relations between the two countries have thawed, though according to reports, group travel from China to South Korea remains sluggish. In its monthly sales report, Paradise Co. recorded a 65.9 percent surge in overall casino revenue for June reaching KRW57.6 billion (US$51.7 million). While machine revenue stayed stable yearon-year, table games revenue contributed the most to the month’s growth, increasing 71.8 percent year-on-year to KRW54.6 billion. The stellar results in June boosted the company’s revenue for the first six months of 2018 to a total of KRW296.3 billion, up 23.7 percent year-on-year. The company doesn’t split out the
Asia Gaming Briefings | August 2018
performance of its IR in its monthly sales figures, though in its Q1 results, the company reported a 145 percent jump in casino sales at the IR to KRW55.6 billion, helped by Japanese VIPs. The table drop from Japanese players rose to KRW512 billion from KRW375 billion in the fourth quarter, although the drop from China declined to KRW324 billion from KRW464 billion. The results also showed the Paradise City IR already making up a sizeable portion of group income, accounting for KRW561 billion of the KRW1.48 trillion total. Paradise operates four foreigner-only casinos, including Paradise City. Sega Sammy says it expects the second phase of the resort to open before the end of March next year. The Japanese company said the phase will include a club and a spa. The Incheon area is expected to become
home to three further integrated resorts, although progress so far has been slow. Caesars Entertainment has teamed with Hong Kong-listed Guangzhou R&F Properties Co to invest more than KRW850 billion in a resort in Midan City on the island. The property will have 720 rooms and suites and boasts “never-before-seen features and creative amenities.” It will be Caesar’s first project in Asia and completion is slated for 2021. Mohegan Sun is also taking its first steps in Asia in South Korea with plans for a $5 billion project. The tribal operator recently bought out its local partner and now holds 100 percent of Project Inspire, as it’s known. The first phase of the integrated resort will cost $1.6 billion, and will feature 1,350 hotel rooms, a 20,000-square-foot casino with 1,500 slot machines and 250 table games, 15,000-seat theatre, retail shopping, amusement park, and multiple restaurants.
