Inspire to Break Ground in ’18?

Mario Kontomerkos (l.), CEO of Mohegan Gaming and Entertainment, said in a recent interview that the U.S.-based tribal firm may break ground on its Inspire resort in South Korea sometime this year.

Inspire to Break Ground in ’18?

Phase I to open in 2021

All systems may be go to start construction of Mohegan Sun’s multibillion-dollar Inspire resort in Incheon, South Korea. During a February earnings call, Mario Kontomerkos, CEO of Mohegan Gaming and Entertainment, indicated that “groundbreaking and financing” may take place “sometime during the middle of 2018.”

He told Hartford Business that the US41.6 billion Phase I of the resort could open in “about 2021.” The tribal enterprise has made a total commitment of up to US$5 billion for multiple phases over a period of 20 years, reported GGRAsia.

The CEO compared the South Korea project site to “having a plot of land that’s approximately the size of Central Park, next to JFK Airport. That’s essentially what Seoul is.” The new resort is going up near Incheon Airport, the gateway to Seoul, the capital of South Korea. Incheon Airport served more than 62 million passenger journeys in 2017.

“I think it could be a transformational opportunity for this company,” said Kontomerkos, former chief financial officer for the company, who took the reins as CEO in October.

In February Mohegan Sun announced that Andrew Billany, a former senior vice president of operations at Macau casino operator SJM Holdings Ltd., had been appointed chief operating officer of Inspire.