Focus on premium mass, non-gaming
The first Asian casino resort to be developed by U.S.-based casino group Caesars Entertainment Corp. should be complete “in early 2021,” says William Shen, the group’s senior vice president and managing director for Korea and Japan.
GGRAsia quoted Shen as saying the firm is looking for a “balanced” gaming revenue mix at the resort’s $700 million foreigners-only casino, which is being co-developed with Hong Kong-listed Guangzhou R&F Properties Co. Ltd. on Korea’s Yeongjong Island.
Advantageously, the island is also home to Incheon International Airport, considered the gateway to the South Korean capital of Seoul.
“Our investment is, we believe, right-sized for the type of opportunity that is available to us as a foreigners-only casino,” Shen told the news outlet. He added that there is always a “concern” about foreigners-only casinos, which exclude the immediate population of potential gamblers and must court sufficient visitation from overseas.
“It doesn’t have domestic customers in the way Kangwon Land has tons and tons of visitors. I think our model is one where we want to emphasize non-gaming anyways: the non-gaming capabilities, the non-gaming offers that we have to showcase,” Shen added. Among South Korea’s 17 casinos, Kangwon Land is the only casino where Koreans are allowed to gamble.
Caesars Korea will include approximately 750 hotel rooms, suites, villas and serviced residences, GGRAsia reported. Non-gaming features will include a conference center, an indoor theatre, an amphitheater, shops, a spa and a “pool experience.”
“Incheon Airport is a really, really busy airport with all kinds of flight traffic from many parts of the world. So that’s part of the traffic that we want to capitalize on,” Shen said, adding that the resort hopes to draw mostly Chinese and Japanese visitors.
He also said the resort will “not be reliant on VIPs. I think the premium mass segment as it exists in markets in other places in Asia certainly is going to be an attractive segment as well.”
Yeongjong Island already hosts the Paradise City casino resort, a joint venture of Paradise Co. Ltd. and Japan’s Sega Sammy Holdings Inc. In addition, Mohegan Gaming and Entertainment is building its Inspire casino resort there. Another project branded as Diamond City is reportedly to be developed by Chinese property firm LongRunn International Group.
Shen said he welcomes the competition. “The opportunity to raise the profile of Yeongjong Island, Incheon on the regional and global stage as a destination for integrated resort-type entertainment can only be helped by a critical mass of integrated resorts.”
