Mario Kontomerkos, CEO of Mohegan Gaming and Entertainment recently told GGRAsia the U.S. tribal operator is still on track to open Phase I of its multibillion-dollar South Korean resort in 2022.
The project, known as Inspire, is currently in development in Incheon, near the capital city of Seoul.
Phase I will include 1,250 hotel rooms, 40 food and beverage outlets and a foreigners-only gaming venue with 160 table games and 700 slot machines, according to Mohegan Gaming’s latest annual report filed in December.
Kontomerkos says Inspire “will be unlike any other integrated resort in Asia and the reason for that in addition to the typical amenities that you will see in an integrated resort, we are also going to integrate seamlessly into this resort a 15,000-seat arena that will bring Western concert entertainment as well as Korean and other Asian concert entertainment. We will be bringing Digital Street, which will be a great showcase for local Korean food, retail and technological talent and finally we will have a theme park that will be unlike any other in Asia.”
The firm has committed US$5 billion in the project. According to the Korea Times, it will be built in four phases over two decades.
In December, Mohegan Sun tapped Hanwha Corp., a large South Korean conglomerate, as a local operating partner. Hanwha will direct the construction of the IR, then oversee hotel and resort operations as well as marketing and human resources departments.
