Inside Asian Gaming

INSIDE ASIAN GAMING | July 2008 22 31 Sang H. Park Chief Marketing Officer, T.H.E. Hotel and LVegas Casino it the biggest earner of Jeju’s 8 casinos. Mainland Korea has a further 9 casinos, and out of the country’s 17 casinos, the LVegas Casino ranked fifth—behind first placed KangwonLand,which is the only casino open to locals, and properties from established operators Paradise Group and Seven Luck. T.H.E. Hotel & LVegas Casino can fairly be termed an instant success, and is the brainchild of Sang H. Park, who previously worked in the US at HAS International—a supplierofvariousgoodstohotelsandcasino resorts. Mr Park told Inside Asian Gaming he had a vision to bring “a very boutique, high-roller casino hotel,” to Jeju, and points out that apart from KangwonLand, “we’re the only casino in Korea that owns its own hotel.” This makes his company better able to control the total experience of high rollers, who are shuttled in from the airport in a fleet of Hummers and Mercedes. Mr Park holds an MBA from the prestigious Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. He pitched the the idea for T.H.E. Hotel and LVegas Casino to Geoff McDowell, president of leading casino development company The Gillmann Group. Mr Park and Mr McDowell became partners in the venture through Gillmann subsidiary Gillman Investment Asia and together raised funds to purchase a publicly traded company, Nasign, Inc. Through that vehicle, they purchased the Crown Hotel in Jeju and undertook a major remodelling to create an upscale property with 213-rooms—128 of which are suites. The niche casino has 29 tables, including 3 VIP rooms with four tables each, and 48 slot machines. Over 40% of customers hail from Japan, another 35-40% from mainland China, and the rest predominantly from neighbouring Asian countries, including Taiwan, the Philippines and Vietnam. Mr Park wants to bring a mega resort to Jeju, and is currently negotiating the land purchase under Gillmann Investment Asia, a subsidiary company of The Gillmann Group. He expects the envisioned Vegas-style mega resort, featuring“a total hospitality hotel and casino concept, with lots of entertainment, a nightclub, dining, etc,” to be open by 2010. He points out that Jeju hosts over 5.6 million visitors a year and claims “this mega resort will be a place everyone wants to go see.” Additionally, while KangwonLand is the only casino currently open to locals, Mr Park believes “there will be more domestic licenses given out,” perhaps within the next three or four years. By that time, Mr Park’s company will have established a solid track record providing high-end gaming and integrated resort offerings on Jeju, making it well positioned to secure one of those licenses. Asian Gaming 50 T.H.E. Hotel & LVegas Casino opened on Korea’s Jeju Island on April 25, 2008. By May, the property had secured a 39% share of casino revenue on the resort island, making 32 Paul Steelman President and CEO, Paul Steelman Design Group According to casino architect Paul Steelman, themed casinos are faux pas and today’s trends are tomorrow’s design disasters. Mr Steelman is widely regarded as the world’s leading casino architect. Drawing on experience gleaned from a career spanning more than 20 years and using lessons from behavioural psychology, he has formulated a set of “rules of casino design” intended to lure people into casinos and keep them there. These rules include ensuring exits— actual exits, not just exit signs—are clearly visible (which apparently keeps players at the tables for an average of five minutes longer) and using curved rather than straight corridors (which makes visitors feel there is the Las Vegas mould. Mr Steelman’s services are much in demand throughout Asia. In addition to several other planned Macau projects, PSDG designed the US$4.2 billion beachfront Ho TramStripdestination casino resort currently under construction in Vietnam, and set to open in phases from 2010. more to the property than they have seen, encouraging them to return). Mr Steelman helped Steve Wynn break new ground in Las Vegas by designing the Mirage—the first Strip hotel to emphasize dining and entertainment as much as gaming. In Macau, he came up with the revolutionary stadium-style design that continues to draw throngs to Sands Macao and sent a wake-up call to casino operators throughout Asia that design could offer a major competitive advantage. The next big Paul Steelman Design Group (PSDG) project to be unveiled in Asia will be the US$2 billion Macao Studio City, the first phase of which is scheduled to open next year. The property will contain large-scale film and television studios and other performance spaces— non-gaming elements that Mr Steelman predicts will contribute to Macau’s transformation towards a more diversified tourism and entertainment destination in