South Korean foreigner-only casino operators Paradise Co and Grand Korea Leisure have both reported rising revenues in July, with Paradise seeing casino sales soar by almost 300% year-on-year.
The improved results come after South Korea announced the removal of a mandatory hotel quarantine requirement for unvaccinated international visitors from 8 June while lifting flight restrictions at Incheon International Airport in order to ensure flights can operate more efficiently.
It also resumed the issuance of tourist visas for the first time in more than two years as of 1 June.
With tourism picking up, Paradise recorded casinos sales of KRW27.4 billion (US$20.9 million) in July, up 297% year-on-year and 110% higher than June. The July result came on the back of a 63.9% year-on-year increase in table drop to KRW235.5 billion (US$180 million) and pushed casino sales for the first seven months of 2022 to KRW128.3 billion (US$98.1 million) – 7.4% higher than the same period in 2021.
Paradise operates Paradise Walker-hill in Seoul, Jeju Grand, Paradise City in Incheon and Busan Casino.
Grand Korea Leisure also reported a 278% year-on-year and 17% sequential increase in casino sales to KRW28.6 billion (US$21.9 million) in July.
Table drop of KRW157.7 billion (US$120.5 million) was 130% higher than in July 2021 and 10.2% higher than June 2022, pushing casino sales for the year-to-date to KRW123.4 billion (US$94.3 million) – up 158% year-on-year.
GKL operates three casinos in South Korea – Gangnam COEX and Gangbuk Millenium Seoul Hilton in Seoul, and Seven Luck Casino Busan Lotte.