The possibility of developing a resort-scale casino in Busan was a prime topic at a gathering of experts late last month to discuss tourism and economic development in the South Korean port city.
The 1st Global Busan Tourism Forum was convened in the wake of a report in the Korea Economic Daily that a delegation from Las Vegas Sands had visited the city to scout it as a location for a casino.
It was not the first time representatives of the global resort giant had come to South Korea. The company has expressed active interest in a large-scale investment in one of the country’s urban markets if Koreans were allowed to gamble. Currently, citizens of the country may legally gamble in only one of the country’s 17 casinos, a state-owned venue in the remote northeast province of Kangwon.
Speaking at the forum, a Macau academic said a casino could be an “attractive catalyst to tourism” if pursued in partnership with “international experienced operators”.
However, Glenn McCartney, assistant professor of hospitality and gaming at the University of Macau, warned that simply looking at raw numbers of mass-market visitors to Busan would be a “flawed” approach to gauging the potential of a resort casino. Research must focus on “quality tourism based on spending power across gaming and non-gaming products as well as length of stay,” he said.
The city received roughly 3 million visitors in 2014, according to official data.
McCartney noted that visitors from China could play an important role, citing the popularity of the country’s Jeju Island as an example. The island is popular with mainland Chinese holidaymakers and offers them visa-free entry if they arrive directly by international flight or international ferry or cruise ship.
The country’s largest operator, Seoul-based Paradise, reported KRW46.1 billion (US$39.6 million) in gaming revenue for June, nearly double the total from the same month in 2015, which saw a sharp drop in inbound tourism due to last year’s MERS outbreak.
A filing with the Korean Stock Exchange listed a 32 percent decline in operating profit year on year to KRW15.3 billion ($13.1 million), attributed to higher costs for labor, advertising and complimentaries.
Gaming revenue for the first half totaled KRW299.8 billion ($254.8 million), an increase of 2.2 percent from the first half of 2015.
