Inside Asian Gaming

inside asian gaming October 2017 12 Cover Story city of Incheon, with ground set to be broken in November. Nor has it dissuaded another consortium headed by US giant Caesars Entertainment Corp – which was granted its license back in March 2014 – from doing the same, despite its original partners recently pulling out. “We are still quite excited about the prospects of opening an integrated resort near the Incheon airport,” says Caesars President for International Development, Steve Tight. “We recognize that there are near term geopolitical conflicts in any opportunity in Asia and we are confident by the time we open there will be a robust flow of international tourists to Korea from throughout Asia, including North Asia.” The Caesars project will be the last of three new integrated resorts – Korea’s first true IRs – to open in Incheon. The first, Paradise City – run by Korea’s biggest foreigner-only operator Paradise Co in conjunction with Japan’s Sega Sammy – launched in April, with Mohegan Sun and Caesars both targeting 2020. Originally planned to open in 2018, Caesars’ US$740 million development was delayed when its joint venture partner, “We recognize that there are near term geopolitical conflicts in any opportunity in Asia and we are confident by the time we open there will be a robust flow of international tourists to Korea from throughout Asia, including North Asia.” – Steve Tight, Caesars Entertainment Incheon is set to become Asia’s newest IR hub