South Korea’s foreigner-only casinos could get a boost this month as the government offers visa-free entry for travelers from Japan, Taiwan and Macau.
According to the Yonhap News Agency, citing authorities in Seoul, the visitors would have to apply for permission to enter the country via the Korea Electronic Travel Authorization website at least 72 hours before their inbound flight takes off.
Sixteen of South Korea’s 17 casinos are open only to foreigners. Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, Japanese tourists were considered a key feeder market for the country’s casinos.
At the end of June, per GGRAsia, Grand Korea Leisure Co., with two foreigner-only casinos in Seoul, said it was taking “around a month” for would-be tourists from Japan to get a short-stay visa for South Korea.
Meanwhile, Japanese gaming giant Sega Sammy reports that VIP players from Japan are already heading back to South Korea following the recent reopening of international borders. That’s good news for its Paradise City integrated resort, a joint venture with local foreigner-only casino firm Paradise Co.
“For Paradise City, visits of Japanese VIPs have been resumed due to partially relaxed travel restriction from June 2022, and the group will continue to enhancing marketing and strengthening the ability to acquire guests,” the company said.
For the second quarter, casino drop was just 16 percent of pre-Covid levels and visitation just 31.8 percent for the quarter. However, as reported by Inside Asian Gaming, Paradise Co., which owns 55 percent of Paradise City, posted a 297 percent year-on-year and 110 percent quarter-on-quarter increase in gaming revenues for July on the resumption of international tourism. Those figures also include revenue from the company’s three other casinos in Paradise Walker-hill in Seoul, Jeju Grand and Busan Casino.
