Inside Asian Gaming

inside asian gaming FEBRUARY 2016 24 Imperial Pacific’s newly opened casino Best Sunshine on Saipan Island environment. “A major reason for the four cancellations was the burden of regulatory risk from the Chinese government,” says Brian Lee at CLSA. Among casino operators that never entered the bidding process, SteveWynn has said he would consider building a casino in Korea should the government allow it to serve locals. Some commentators, indeed, suggest that in demanding huge investment, but only giving license to admit foreigners, MCST is asking too much and offering too little. “There are alternatives to Korea because in a couple of years Japan may want to open casinos. The return will be better there because Japan will permit its own people to gamble,” says Yang Il-woo. Whatever the truth, Mohegan Sun and Imperial Pacific (MCST confirmed them as the only two entrants left but otherwise declined to comment for this article) still express great enthusiasm for building an IR in Korea. “We think Korea is an incredible market opportunity,” says tribal gaming operator Mohegan Sun’s CEO Bobby Soper. “Not only does Korea itself have 50 million people, but there are 700 million people in northern China within a 2-hour flight of Seoul. Our site is at Incheon airport which serves 45 million passengers annually, forecast to rise to 60 million.” Mohegan Sun’s targeting of both Koreans and foreigners comes from a plan that aims to raise over half of its revenue from non- gaming. A mere 3% of floor area will be devoted to gambling. “We’re taking a lesson from Macau,” says Soper, referring to the collapse of the city’s VIP segment. “Our business model is not high-end, although we do plan to capture some of it. We’re building an amenity- driven property, with a focus on premium mass-market.” With a projected US$5 billion to build out on 325 hectares over 20 years, the first phase of Mohegan Sun’s project, called “Inspire”, will include 1,200 suites in three luxury hotels, a 15,000 seat arena (billed as “one of the most spectacular entertainment venues in Asia”), 20,000 square meters of luxury retail and a unique “beauty and wellness hub” offering cosmetic surgery. South Korea is a world- leader in this field. So after relaxing in a spa, visitors will be able to get a nose job. Outdoors there will be a state-of-the-art theme park and an eco-park with an aquarium and recreational activities such as climbing and “glamping” (luxury camping in safari-style tents). The casino itself will offer over 200 tables and 1,500 slots. Uniquely, Mohegan Sun has agreed to work with Incheon International Airport to build the first private air terminal in Asia. Mohegan Sun will take the majority share of a consortium to build all of this, with the Korean construction materials-supplier KCC as its main partner. Another partner ran a junket operation in Macau. Soper declined to detail the “three or four” remaining members of his consortium, although he did say all of them have experience in Asian gaming. To add to this, Soper counts Mohegan Sun’s flagship resort in Connecticut, which serves 35,000 visitors each day, as a qualification, together with the estimated 20,000 jobs he reckons his proposed IR should create in Korea. Mass- market may indeed be today’s trend in Asian gambling. But Hong Kong-listed Imperial Pacific, the second party left in the game, is not following fashion. Its unabashedly high-end “Pacific Palace” is proposed for a site next to the Lippo-Caesar’s Entertainment IR now Feature In Focus “Mass- market may indeed be today’s trend in Asian gambling. But Hong Kong-listed Imperial Pacific is not following fashion. Its unabashedly high-end “Pacific Palace” is proposed for a site next to the Lippo- Caesar’s Entertainment IR now being built in Yeongjong’s Midan City which, targeting mass-market, is not seen as a competitor.”