Paradise City off to a slow start
Mohegan Sun is moving forward with its plan to develop a $1.6 billion integrated resort and casino in Incheon, South Korea, despite the host country’s ongoing political tensions with North Korea. The Inspire Integrated Resort is the U.S.-based tribal gaming operator’s first international venture.
The total investment over 20 years could reach $5 billion, according to Mohegan Sun. Its local partner is KCC Corp., a Seoul chemicals and auto parts manufacturer, and the Incheon International Airport, reports Casino.org.
At build-out, Inspire will feature a 215,000-square-foot casino, 1,350 five- and six-star guest rooms, a Paramount Studios indoor theme park and a private air terminal at the adjacent Incheon International Airport. The tribal operator expects to open the resort sometime in 2020.
Meanwhile, the $1.12 billion Paradise City—South Korea’s first casino resort—opened in Incheon last month. So far, it looks like conflict between North and South Korea is hampering visitation at the resort, which is open to foreigners only.
At the heart of the conflict is the U.S. deployment of an anti-missile defense system in South Korea, to help the country defend against its aggressive neighbor to the north. That move angered the Chinese government, which supports North Korea and responded by restricting travel to South Korea. Because Koreans can’t legally gamble or even enter the casino, Paradise City hasn’t seen much traffic.
“It’s a pity that, because of the missile issue, there might be fewer Chinese mass customers at first,” a gaming analyst told Reuters last month.
Paradise City is a venture between South Korea’s Paradise Co. Ltd., an operator of foreigner-only casinos there, and Tokyo-based Japanese pachinko operator Sega Sammy Holdings Inc. Its slow start could end up helping Malaysian casino Genting Highland, according to Affin Hwang Capital, a Malaysian-based financial research firm. “Beijing has banned Chinese tour groups from visiting South Korea. This change will be an incremental positive for visitation growth since Genting Highland is a major attraction among Chinese tourists.”
On a recent conference call, Mohegan Sun CFO Mario Kontomerkos said of Paradise City, “We look forward to their success. Their project adds significant critical mass to make the airport be a true entertainment destination that we’re looking to turn Incheon into. And so we hope they do well.”
