Paradise Co. Ltd and Sega Sammy Holdings Inc. are set to break ground on their integrated resort and casino in October near the Incheon airport in South Korea. The massive project, which includes an expansion of Paradise Casino Incheon, expects to open in early 2017.
Paradise and Sega Sammy are optimistic that the new and improved resort would have no problem attracting gamblers; especially wealthy Chinese visitors whose visitation numbers in South Korea continue to grow exponentially. Last year, the number of Chinese tourists who went to South Korea grew by almost 53 percent.. That number is expected to increase again this year, validating the belief that there will be enough Chinese high rollers for South Korea and other Asian countries looking to siphon off these mainland gamblers away from Macau.
Paradise Sega Sammy Co. CEO Choi Jong-Hwan simply put it when he told Reuters, “There will be more rich people in China, and they will need to travel.”
The company is hoping that its close proximity to the Chinese mainland and the popular draw of Korean culture would establish healthy interest from Chinese VIPs to move their gambling trip from Macau to Incheon.
Paradise Sega Sammy plans to be ultra-aggressive in touting its new resort and casino. The company is in the process of establishing a massive junket operator network to take advantage of their ability to bring in enormous numbers of high rollers from all parts of China. Choi sees junkets accounting for 20 to 30 percent of Paradise Sega Sammy’s casino business.
Paradise Sega Sammy will have the advantage of being the first foreign integrated resort to open in South Korea. The planned $2 billion project by Caesars Entertainment and the Lippo Group isn’t expected to open for at least a year after Paradise Sega Sammy’s joint opens.
