Kangwon Land, the only South Korean casino in which locals are allowed to gamble, says it estimates the loss in sales from its latest COVID-19 closure to reach KRW36.4 billion (US$30.7 million) after extending the closure period by a further two weeks.
Located at the foot of a ski and golf resort in a remote area of Gangwon Province, Kangwon Land had suspendedcasino operations for six days from Sunday 23 August before later extending its closure period until 7 September.
In a Korea Stock Exchange filing on Friday, the company said it would now remain shuttered for a further two weeks until 6am on Monday 21 September due to South Korea’s latest round of social distancing measures in the fight against COVID-19.
As a result, the loss in casino sales for this period has been estimated at KRW36.4 billion, up from KRW18.8 billion (US$15.8 million) based on the previous period
It is the second time this year the casino has been forced to close, having originally suspended operations on 23 February before reopening for VIP guests on 8 May and for main gaming floor players from 20 July.
As recently reported by Inside Asian Gaming, Kangwon Land had been gradually increasing capacity since reopening, from an initial cap on daily visitation of 750 people to 1,800 people as of mid-August – roughly 25% of full capacity.
As of Sunday, South Korea had recorded a total of 21,177 cases and 334 deaths, with 167 new cases in the previous 24 hours.
