The Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority, operator of the Mohegan Sun casino in the US, has joined with the operator of South Korea’s Incheon International Airport to in a proposal for US$5 billion development with a casino resort component at the site of the airport.
International gaming companies are being lured to South Korea by the government’s decision to award two further gaming licenses this year, along with the promise of a market that saw a 42% jump in Chinese tourists last year to a record 6 million.
Incheon International Airport said their proposed resort would be developed on the grounds of the gateway airport to Seoul, which serves more than 45 million visitors annually.
Mohegan Sun would spend about $1.6 billion on the first stage of the resort by 2020. The entire project, due to be completed in 2040, would include a foreigners-only casino with 250 gaming tables, a 1,000-room hotel, an arena for up to 20,000 people and an amusement park, the companies said.
The South Korea government has said it will decide on “around two” new gaming licenses by the end of this year. The new casinos would be aimed at catering to foreign visitors as Seoul bars locals from entering all but one of its 17 casinos and has no plans to change its policy.
Also competing for a license are Hong Kong’s Chow Tai Fook Enterprises Ltd with a proposal for a $2.6 billion resort, which would be near Incheon airport too, and Philippines’ Bloomberry Resorts Corp which has plans to invest $1 billion in a casino complex.
Bloomberry, which has not said where the new casino would be, has bought an island off the coast of Incheon and bought an existing casino in Jeju Island. If it decides to build the integrated casino resort in Jeju it would not need a new license.
Most of South Korea’s current casinos are tiny by the standards of Macau or Las Vegas. Casino resorts include one being built by South Korea’s Paradise Co Ltd and Japan’s Sega Sammy Holdings Inc and another under construction by Caesars Entertainment Corp and Lippo Ltd . Both will also be near the airport.
