Las Vegas Seeks Korean Investment
By Kang Shin-who
Korea Times Correspondent
Anaheim _ As a visa-waiver program between Korea and the U.S. gets under way, more Korean investors are turning their eyes to the big country.
As for Las Vegas, a tourist city, condo-hotels are highly recommended for Koreans who are interested in real estate investment, Terry Jicinsky, a senior vice president of marketing at Convention and Visitors Authority of the city, said.
``The biggest business opportunity in Las Vegas is the investment in condo-hotels. People can buy and invest in new properties under construction, and then actually own a piece of that new property they can use for not only a vacation for themselves but also as a real estate investment,'' Jicinsky said in an interview with The Korea Times during the ``International Pow Wow'' event held at the Anaheim Convention Center last week.
Although there is a risk in any investment, the vice president was confident that the city is a leader in the investment community today and it is growing fast.
Jicinsky stressed that Las Vegas has driven to shake off the image of ``Casino City'' and has made significant changes over the last few years.
``I think the biggest change for Las Vegas in the last five years has been the casino-hotels building new products and adding more in terms of things to do, restaurants, the shopping malls,'' he explained.
Lastly, Jicinsky also expressed his big expectation on a visa waiver between the two countries.
`We are very excited about the visa waiver program. We think it will not only simplify travel to the United States but also to Las Vegas as well,'' he said. ``The program will also benefit university students that are considering traveling to the U.S.''