Lotte Tour Development Co., promoter of the Jeju Dream Tower integrated resort on Jeju Island, South Korea, is planning to launch the project in October of this year, said Lotte COO and Executive Vice President Lawrence Teo in an email to GGRAsia.
“We hope to open all facilities including the casino at once,” Teo informed the news outlet.
He said the firm is currently applying for an occupancy permit for the casino resort project. “This will be followed by the Casino Impact Study Assessment for relocation of our casino license from Lotte Hotel Jeju to Jeju Dream Tower,” Teo wrote.
According to officials in Jeju, which GGRAsia described as “a semi-autonomous part of South Korea,” the social impact evaluation is legally required in cases where an existing Jeju casino operator plans to expand its gaming capacity by more than two times.
Jeju Dream Tower broke ground in May 2016. Its 38 floors make it the tallest building on Jeju. The complex will include a Grand Hyatt-branded hotel as well as a casino and other leisure facilities.
near absence of foreign tourists, the province’s related industries, including its eight casinos, are suffering a deep economic crisis.
Four of the eight casinos have currently suspended business operations completely, while the other four are operating with reduced hours and much of their staff furloughed, and with few customers coming in the doors.
According to the Jeju Island Tourism Association, foreign tourism to Jeju was down 98.5 percent in the second quarter, with only 6,246 foreign tourists coming to the province over the entire three-month period. That’s down from more than 440,000 foreign tourists in the same period last year, according to Asia Gaming Brief.
At their peak in 2018, Jeju’s eight casinos generated sales of KRW511 billion (US$430 million). This year, they are expected to reap about KRW100 billion.
