Lotte Tour Development Dream Tower Casino Posts First Profit Since Opening
Resumption of Flights to Singapore, Taiwan, China Boosts Performance
China Routes Tripled Since June
Local Companies Also See Sales Growth
Jeju's foreigner-only casinos, which were virtually closed due to COVID-19, are showing signs of improvement in business performance. This is because conditions for attracting tourists have improved with the resumption of international direct flights not only to Singapore, Japan, Taiwan, and Hong Kong but also to China.
The leading player is the integrated resort Jeju Dream Tower Casino. Lotte Tour Development, the operator, announced on the 18th that the net sales of Dream Tower Casino in April reached 9.96 billion KRW last month. This amount excludes agent commissions from total sales, and based on total sales as compiled by the Casino Association, it recorded 14.69 billion KRW.
The casino's operating profit last month was tentatively estimated at 2 billion KRW, with a net profit of about 100 million KRW. This is the first time Dream Tower Casino has turned a profit since its opening in June 2021. Sales also increased 4.7 times compared to the same period last year (2.13 billion KRW), marking the highest since its opening.
The number of visitors to Dream Tower Casino has steadily increased since June last year, starting with Singapore and expanding international direct flights. From January to May last year, the average monthly number of visitors was about 5,300, but after June, it jumped to around 8,300 per month. With the resumption of routes to Osaka, Japan, and Taipei, Taiwan in November and December last year, the monthly average rose to about 11,800.
Since the opening of the direct flight route to China at the end of March this year, the number of visitors increased to 18,700 in April alone, and by the 17th of this month, 12,000 visitors had already come, making it likely to reach over 20,000 visitors this month. As casino visitors increased, the drop amount (the amount customers exchanged for chips), which is directly linked to sales, jumped from an average of 32 billion KRW per month from January to May last year to 96.5 billion KRW last month.
Lotte Tour Development explained, "Although the drop amount has increased significantly, sales were relatively very low. This is because the hold rate (the ratio of net sales from table games to the drop amount) was temporarily low from August last year to March this year." They added, "In April, the hold rate rebounded, and over time, it is expected to rise to the average hold rate level of inland foreigner-only casinos, leading to increased sales."
From June onwards, the increase in direct flights to China is expected to further boost performance. Currently, direct flights connecting Jeju with Shanghai, Nanjing, and Beijing operate 44 times a week, and from next month, this will nearly triple to 112 times a week.
Currently, eight foreigner-only casinos, including Dream Tower Casino, are operating in Jeju. The sales of these casinos amounted to 80.7 billion KRW last year, a 65.5% increase compared to the previous year. Casinos in the province, which had been closed for a long time due to COVID-19, gradually resumed operations from June last year and all reopened by early this year. With the expansion of direct flight routes and an increase in foreign tourists, the industry expects total sales to recover to the 100 billion KRW range this year. As of early this month, the number of foreign tourists visiting Jeju reached 103,952, already surpassing last year's annual visitor count of 87,944.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
