In South Korea, an environmental group has accused Lotte Tour Development of skewing a public opinion survey to suggest greater support for its plan to relocate its casino.
The plan calls for Lotte Tour to move its small LT Casino from the Lotte Hotel Jeju in Seogwipo City to the Jeju Dream Tower. It would expand the venue almost fivefold, from 1,176 square meters (12,650 square feet) to 5,368 square meters (57,780 square feet), and allow it to grow from five gaming tables and 51 machines to 150 tables and 300 machines. The new $1.4 billion Jeju Dream Tower opened in December.
Inside Asian Gaming reports that the group, called Jeju Solidarity for Participatory Self-government and Environmental Preservation, claims Lotte Tour “tried to manipulate the opinion survey of residents in the process of preparing the casino industry impact assessment report.”
According to News Jeju, the study is conducted on a 1,000-point scale comprising 500 points for local community influence, 300 points for contribution to the local community and 200 points for collecting opinions of residents. Applicants must score at least 800 points. However, it is alleged resident opinions were sought from people known to be supportive of Jeju Dream Tower.
Lotte Tour has denied the accusations, stating there could be no such issue as the collection of opinions was commissioned independently by research firm Gallup Korea.
