Genting Singapore Plc and partner Landing International Development Ltd. announced plans to develop a $2.2 billion casino resort on South Korea’s Jeju island, targeting Chinese gamblers. Chinese tourists are the main driver behind casino growth for Macau, which took more than $45 billion in gambling revenue last yea
Genting Singapore Plc and partner Landing International Development Ltd. announced plans to develop a $2.2 billion casino resort on South Korea's Jeju island, targeting Chinese gamblers.
Chinese tourists are the main driver behind casino growth for Macau, which took more than $45 billion in gambling revenue last year. While Chinese normally need visas to go to South Korea, an increasingly popular destination for tourists from the world's most-populous nation, that requirement is exempted for visits to Jeju.
Resorts World Jeju will be modeled after Genting's Resorts World Sentosa, one of Singapore's two gambling resorts, and will be developed by a 50-50 joint venture formed by the 2 companies.
Its casino, open only to foreigners, will have 800 tables, including 200 for high-stakes gamblers, said Yang Zhihui, Chairman of the Chinese company.
It will be built on a site with an area of 2.3 million sqm and will have a theme park, a mall, luxury apartments, and 3 hotels with 2,800 rooms. Construction is scheduled to begin in June this year, with the 1st phase set to open in 2017.
About 4.3 million Chinese tourists visited South Korea last year, 53% more than in 2012, and making up more than a third of the country's total, according to Korea Tourism Organization.