Jeju Dream Tower Casino, operated by South Korea’s major tourism and leisure company, Lotte Tour Development Co., is on track to snatch the crown from Paradise City as the nation’s top casino this year after leading last month’s revenue among the country’s 16 foreigner-only casinos.
According to Seoul-based alternative data service KED Aicel, Jeju Dream Tower Casino posted a record 43.4 billion won ($31.1 million) in net casino revenue in July, nearly double from the same month of last year.
The tally outpaced Paradise City, its crosstown rival in Incheon, which has led the industry since 2019, with 40.4 billion won.
The runner-up is Paradise City sibling, Paradise Walkerhill Casino, with 29.7 billion won, followed by Seven Luck Casino in Seoul Dragon City with 13.3 billion won and Seven Luck Casino in Gangnam COEX with 9.1 billion won.
Seven Luck Casino operations are owned by Grand Korea Leisure Co. (GKL), while Paradise casinos are operated by Paradise Co., a major resort and casino operator in Korea.
ON UPSWING TRAJECTORY
Located in Jeju Island, Korea’s most popular resort island, Dream Tower Casino opened its doors in June 2021 as the country’s foreigner-only casino.
Its operation, however, remained largely idle during the COVID-19 pandemic, with monthly average net revenue hovering around 4 billion won.
As tourism recovered in the endemic era, revenue topped 10 billion won for the first time in May 2023 and has since continued its growth streak, breaching 40 billion won in May this year.
The casino drew a record 56,691 visitors in July.
Lotte Tour Development said Dream Tower’s hotel rooms have been nearly fully booked since April.
Jeju Dream Tower is an integrated resort, composed of a hotel operated as Grand Hyatt Jeju with 1,600 suite-size rooms, 14 restaurants and bars, an outdoor pool deck and Sky Deck, as well as a foreigner-only casino in Korea and a shopping mall.
Thanks to the stellar performance of its casino operation, Lotte Tour Development posted a quarterly record high of 33.1 billion won in operating profit on a consolidated basis in the second quarter ended June, on its largest-ever revenue of 157.7 billion won.
Its bottom line swung to a profit of 5.9 billion won for the first time since the opening of Jeju Dream Tower in 2020.
The company attributed the strong result to a surge in Chinese tourists to the country’s top tourism destination, Jeju, aided by Jeju’s visa-free entry policy for Chinese travelers.
Between April and June, about 1.4 million Chinese nationals entered Korea, up nearly 18% from a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Justice.
Analysts expect Korea’s casino operators to extend their rally in the second half, with further momentum from a planned nationwide expansion of visa-free entry for Chinese group tourists in the third quarter.
Kospi-listed Lotte Tour shares ended up 4.1% at 17,070 won on Tuesday, outperforming the Kospi index, which slipped 1%.
By Tae-Ho Lee
thlee@hankyung.com
Sookyung Seo edited this article.
