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Competition heats up for 2 casino licenses
34 firms vying for tickets to run resort complex
By Lee Hyo-sik
Yoon Chang-woon Kolon Global CEO
By Lee Hyo-sik
Lim Byoung-soo GKL CEO
Kolon, Grand Korea Leisure (GKL) and 32 other companies are competing to win two licenses to build and operate an integrated resort complex, which would include a casino, a shopping mall and other leisure facilities.
Foreigner-only casinos, which are often referred to as golden goose opportunities here, have been booming in recent years on the increasing number of Chinese and other foreign tourists.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, which issues casino business licenses, is expected to announce this month where it would like foreigner-only casinos to be located, marking the beginning of the full-scale selection process.
Many analysts say the ministry will likely issue one license to one of those seeking to build the integrated resort in Incheon. The other will be selected from companies planning to run a casino and other leisure facilities in areas next to Seoul.
The ministry plans to evaluate business plans submitted by 34 candidates over the next five months and draw up a winners’ list in December.
“As we have said before, we will push ahead with the selection process as scheduled to choose two entities by December,” a ministry official said. “We will give them a license to build and run an integrated casino complex.”
The tourism ministry has issued licenses for the construction of two integrated casino resorts on Yeongjongdo Island, Incheon.
LOCZ Korea, a Chinese-U.S. consortium of Lippo and Caesars Entertainment, won approval to open a foreigners-only, casino-driven resort by 2018 in Midan City on Yeongjongdo Island.
Paradise, Korea’s largest operator of foreigner-only casinos, is building the casino complex Paradise City near Incheon International Airport.
There are 16 foreigner-only casinos in Korea, posting combined revenue of 1.37 trillion won in 2013 by attracting 2.7 million foreign gamblers. The revenue expanded in 2014 and is projected to exceed 1.5 trillion won this year, in line with the growing number of inbound tourists.
Paradise runs a casino at the Sheraton Grande Walkerhill hotel in western Seoul, and one in Busan and Incheon. It also operates two casinos on Jeju Island.
GKL, the operator of Seven Luck Casino, runs a casino at the Millennium Hilton Seoul hotel at the foot of Mount Nam in central Seoul, another in southern Seoul and a third in Busan.
The ministry expects the two envisioned casino complexes to attract more Chinese and other foreign visitors as those in Singapore and other Southeast Asian nations have done.
Singapore, Macao and many other Asian countries have secured stable economic growth with revenue from the casino industry. In particular, Singapore saw a steep increase in inbound travelers after opening Marina Bay Sands in 2010.
GKL and 15 other bidders have unveiled plans to build a casino complex in Incheon, citing its geographical proximity to Incheon Airport. They say the resort would be better able to lure Chinese and other foreign visitors if it is closer to the airport.
Lotte Group has joined with Malaysia-based Genting Group, which operates casinos in Singapore, the United States and Britain, to bid for a license to build the integrated resort in Busan.
Kolon Global, a trading arm of Kolon Group, has a plan to build a casino in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province, while the National Federation of Fisheries Cooperatives wants to construct a resort in the Noryangjin Fish Market in Seoul.
The cooperatives said the fish market is the perfect place for a large-scale resort complex to transform Seoul into a more attractive global tourist destination.