Mega integrated resort 'Inspire' to open in Incheon in 2022

A rendering of Inspire, an integrated resort scheduled to open in 2022 in Incheon. Courtesy of Incheon International Airport Corp.

By Kim Hyun-bin

CONNETICUT ― Korea's largest integrated resort, Inspire, is scheduled to open in Incheon in 2022. It will include a five-star hotel, concert arena, casino and Paramount Pictures theme park, according to Incheon International Airport Corp. (IIAC).

Mohegan Gaming & Entertainment (MGE), one of the largest U.S. Native American developers and operators of integrated entertainment resorts, started to build its Korea resort in the International Business Complex-III area in May on 4.37 square kilometers of land provided by the IIAC.

"All of the major permits that are necessary to break ground, we received in May and we are under construction as we speak and we are looking forward to opening in early part of 2022," Mario Kontomerkos, CEO of MGE, said during a press conference for Korean journalists at Mohegan Sun, the company's casino resort in Connecticut, Nov. 3.

Mario Kontomerkos, CEO of Mohegan Gaming & Entertainment, speaks to Korean journalists about Inspire, an integrated resort to be built in Incheon, during a press conference at the Mohegan Sun in Connecticut, Nov. 3. Korea Times photo by Kim Hyun-bin

The construction will be conducted in four phases with all stages to be completed by 2031. The five-star hotel with 1,256 rooms, a 15,000-seat arena to host concerts and sporting events, convention halls and a foreigner-only casino, will be a part of the first phase of construction scheduled to be completed by the end of 2021 with an investment of 1.5 trillion won ($1.29 billion).

The opening of the first phase is due in June 2022.

Inspire will become MGE's first resort outside of the Americas and the eighth overall alongside six resorts within the U.S. and one in Canada.

Kontomerkos says Inspire will be differentiated and incomparable to other integrated resorts in Asia in terms of its sheer size, contents and amenities.

"Inspire will be unlike any other integrated resort in Asia and the reason for that in addition to the typical amenities that you will see in an integrated resort, we are also going to integrate seamlessly into this resort a 15,000-seat arena that will bring Western concert entertainment as well as Korean and other Asian concert entertainment," he said. "We will be bringing Digital Street, which will be a great showcase for local Korean food, retail and technological talent and finally we will have a theme park that will be unlike any other in Asia."

The construction for the second stage will start in 2021, which includes a Paramount Pictures indoor theme park that is estimated to cost 1.3 trillion won and scheduled to open by 2025. The outdoor theme park is expected to break ground in 2024.

The overall investment for the first and second phases of the project is estimated at 2.8 trillion won and expected to create over 10,000 jobs.

Over the span of 30 years, the resort is expected to create 800,000 direct and indirect new jobs and generate economic ripple effects worth 167 trillion won as well as added value of 60 trillion won, according to the IIAC.

"When Inspire opens, it will showcase the world's top facilities for both domestic and foreign tourists as well as creating high-quality jobs," IIAC President Koo Bon-hwan said in a statement. "As the Inspire resort construction has begun, we will work to solidify Incheon airport's economic bloc and make efforts to fuse aviation, distribution and high-tech industry fields to become the center of the world's economic activities."

Kontomerkos says it was not a difficult decision to select Incheon as the site for their first integrated resort outside the Americas.

"It was not a very difficult decision when you look at how Korea has become such an important destination. We talked about the popularity of K-pop and K-culture, K-food ― all of these factors play into why Korea has become a great travel and leisure destination," Kontomerkos said.

"The location is almost perfect right next to Incheon International Airport, an airport that is one of the most successful in the world by almost every measure."

He added that 70 million people travel through Incheon every year and even if a very small ratio of these people visit the resort, it will be very strong drive for investment.

Unlike other casino resorts operated by MGE, Inspire comes as a challenge as Korea bans locals from gambling in casinos with the only exception being the government-run casino Kangwon Land in Jeongseon County, Gangwon Province, 200 kilometers east of Seoul.

In the case of the Mohegun Sun complex's Connecticut-based hotel and casino Aspire, close to 75 percent of revenue comes from casinos, according to a senior MGE official. But due to the local gambling ban in Korea, the operator needs to divert its focus to other amenities to increase profitability, which Kontomerkos says won't be too much of a problem.

"The percentage of revenue that comes from the casino in Inspire will be less in Korea because it will only be open to foreigners. But a lot of that will be made up through other amenities including our splash bay concept, which is our indoor water park concept, and things like digital street, which will be a unique indoor retail and F&B and technology showcase, and things like the arena, hotel and MICE space," he said.

Kontomerkos says Inspire will be a model for other developments around the world for sustainable projects and is expected to break even in its investments within 10 years.

"Every investment that we make must have a certain return threshold, and over these investments we are planning to make in Korea or the United States or anywhere else generally, we are always looking for return on investments somewhere between seven to 10 years," Kontomerkos said. "Given the opportunity we have in Korea, I think there are decades of development here ahead of us. The opportunity to build an airport entertainment city is an opportunity for us and Korea and for the IIAC."

Concept image of Paramount Pictures theme park scheduled to open in 2025. Courtesy of IIAC

Paramount theme park to open in 2025

Paramount Pictures, a leading American film studio based in Hollywood, is scheduled to build a state-of-the-art theme park that spans over 404,600 square meters, bringing along scores of attractions including dining, retail and blockbuster entertainment.
Inspire, Paramount Pictures and IIAC are set to ink a strategic partnership in December to build the theme park, which is scheduled to open in 2025.

"I think one of the strengths for this project is people in Korea like theme parks. This is a tremendous strength that you have a culture that actually embraces going to theme parks," said Ty Granaroli, senior vice president of Paramount Pictures. "If we do it on the right scale and synergy with the existing property, we will get on everyone's radar and everyone that has been going to theme parks, around 13 million people a year (in Korea), will be interested in this project as well."

Major attractions will be derived from Paramount Pictures' blockbuster hits including "Star Trek," "Mission Impossible," "The Italian Job" and "Tomb Raider," embedding 4D technology, large format media, special effects and thrilling rides that suit all ages.

Even the dining experience is a "show in itself" with restaurants replicated from the ones in Paramount Studios in LA, where visitors can feel the dining experience "as if you were dining in the Hollywood location" while an Italian restaurant will remind people of a scene from the ever-popular "The Godfather" films.

A section of the park will highlight and promote Korean culture and K-pop.

"This is an interesting land; we have dedicated the entire land to Korean culture and K-pop culture. This is a land filled with music performances and rides. The whole thing is like a fantastic music festival based on K-pop music," Granaroli said.

He emphasized that Paramount Pictures has gained the competitive edge in the theme park area through its high-quality storytelling ability.

"We are storytellers. Paramount creates movies, which are really stories, and people love great stories. Our competitive advantage is the legacies of stories and this park does not end with movies we have made to date. Every year we make 10 to 15 movies. We are going to bring those new stories to the parks whenever they come out," he said.