Mohegan Gaming & Entertainment’s (MGE) South Korean integrated resort (IR), Inspire, is scheduled to open in late 2023, with its first phase of development now 63 percent complete.
At full buildout, Inspire is expected to be the largest IR in Northeast Asia, surpassing Incheon’s first IR, Paradise City.
The initial phase alone will span more than 460,000 square meters (113 acres), with three five-star hotels; a 15,000-seat indoor concert venue that will double as a sports arena; and a casino with 700 slot machines. The U.S. tribal gaming authority has invested KRW1.8 trillion (US$1.3 billion) in Phase 1.
Additional phases will add a 4,000-person convention center, an upscale shopping mall called Splash Bay; an indoor water park; restaurants; and a luxury shopping district.
The casino at the $5 billion project, originally scheduled to open in 2021, will be open only to foreigners, so Inspire’s location, on Yeongjong Island near Incheon International Airport, is ideal. The airport, called “the gateway to Seoul,” can manage 1,000 flights a day and 23,000 million passengers a year. Future phases of development will more than double that capacity.
Chen Si, MGE’s chief operating officer, told the Korea Times the property will attract international visitors who want to “appreciate Korean culture, especially live entertainment and art.”
“Our strategy is to leverage our proximity to the airport to drive business companies from the rest of the Asia-Pacific to host meetings in our facility and benefit the economy here,” Si said. “We’re hoping to complete construction with our partner Hanwha by September and start opening the resort in the fourth quarter.”
