Inside Asian Gaming

inside asian gaming October 2017 16 Hopes are high that Paradise City – which opened as Korea’s first IR in April – will drive an increase in Chinese players over the coming years “These results are due to short-term issues and we don’t foresee these factors making an impact at the time of our opening. We are confident that Inspire’s unique and compelling entertainment offerings will appeal to many and quickly become a highly sought after experience.” – Mario Kontomerkos, Mohegan Sun For the newcomers – Mohegan Sun and Caesars – the hope is that critical mass will play its part, with Kontomerkos stating “critical mass is an important factor in transforming Incheon into an international resort destination.” McCamley isn’t so sure. “Three IRs in Incheon was, in my opinion, two IRs too many,” he says. “There is just not enough critical mass to support three large IR developments. The Paradise Group, together with government-owned GKL, controls about 90% of the foreigner- only market so the question is will Caesars and Mohegan Sun have sufficient regional experience and enough pulling power to get their share of the market and be competitive? “It will be a massive fight to get market share. Paradise City has a head start in many areas and as long as they don’t kill the market with overly competitive program offerings the other developments will be playing catch-up.” Exactly what the emergence of Incheon as an IR hub means for Korea’s holiday island and home to nine of the country’s 16 foreigner-only casinos, Jeju, remains to be seen. Jeju has also been the hardest hit by China’s tourism crackdown with Chinese tourist numbers plummeting by 56.2% in March, 88.1% in April, 89.6% in May and 89.3% in June according to figures from the Jeju provincial government. Cover Story Again, that hasn’t stopped Landing International Development investing an extra US$300 million into its ambitious Jeju IR, Jeju Shinhwa World – announcing on 21 September that it now plans to launch casino operations from 8 December 2017 along with Marriott Resort, Landing Hotel, a MICE center, themed restaurants, food streets and a retail mall. When complete in 2019, Jeju Shinhwa World will also include Four Seasons Resort & Spa and multiple theme parks including a Hollywood inspired outdoor theme park, Lionsgate Movie World. But for Tight, whose eyes are firmly focused on Incheon, Paradise City provides a unique opportunity to watch and learn before Caesars launches its first major foray into Asia. “On the Paradise City project, it is too early to judge and I think it won’t really be a fair test until they work through issues between the two countries and travel restrictions are no longer in place as we expect will be the case when we open in 2020,” he offers. “So we’ll watch the general dynamics in the market, whether it’s Paradise City or in Macau, and try to adjust our program. We’ll take advantage of the benefits of hindsight in watching their development and looking on as the market starts to recover in Macau and think about amenities to target who we think in 2020 will be our target market.”