Jeju Dream Tower Casino Achieves Over 10 Billion KRW in Net Sales on Opening Day

114.2 Billion KRW as of May... "All-Time High"
Direct Flight Route Expansion Leads to Record High Passenger Numbers and Drop Amounts

Lotte Tour Development announced on the 7th that the Dream Tower Casino, exclusively for foreigners within the Jeju Dream Tower Complex Resort, achieved a net sales of 11.42 billion KRW as of May, surpassing 10 billion KRW for the first time since its opening.

Dream Tower Casino
Photo by Lotte Tour Development

This amount is net of agent commissions and other fees from the total sales. Previously, the Dream Tower Casino recorded net sales of 9.96 billion KRW in April, marking its first profitable turnaround 22 months after opening in June 2021, and maintained profitability for two consecutive months by recording net sales exceeding 10 billion KRW last month.

Although the Dream Tower Casino's average monthly net sales last year were only around 3.6 billion KRW, net sales jumped to 6.49 billion KRW in January following the resumption of international flights at Jeju Airport, and have continued to rise since then.

With the continuous increase in international flights connecting Jeju and major Asian cities, not only sales but also drop amounts (the amount customers exchange cash for chips) and the number of visitors have reached record highs.

The number of visitors to Dream Tower Casino surpassed 20,000 for the first time since its opening, reaching 21,866 as of May. The average monthly number of visitors from January to May last year was about 5,300, but with the resumption of direct flights to Osaka, Japan; Taipei, Taiwan; and Singapore in November last year, the number exceeded 10,000 for the first time (13,105 visitors). Since the end of March, with the full resumption of direct flights from China, the number of visitors has increased nearly fourfold compared to the early last year's monthly average. The drop amount (table) in May reached 113.75 billion KRW, marking the first time it exceeded 100 billion KRW. This is about four times higher than the 28.39 billion KRW recorded during the same period last year.

With the continuous increase in overseas direct flights expected from June onward, expectations for a rebound in performance are rising. According to the aviation industry, from this month, flights to Ningbo (9 times weekly), Hangzhou (4 times weekly), Shenyang (2 times weekly), and Shanghai (7 times weekly) in China will increase to 22 times weekly. Direct flights connecting major Chinese cities and Jeju are expected to increase to 65 times weekly. Adding existing flights to Osaka, Japan (7 times weekly), Taipei, Taiwan (10 times weekly), and Singapore (5 times weekly), the total number of flights between Jeju and major Asian cities will reach 87 times weekly starting in June.

Additionally, with 155 weekly flight route slots currently pending approval for Jeju Airport’s operation schedule, including Hong Kong, Dalian, Guangzhou, and Harbin, the industry expects that from July, Jeju will re-enter the era of over 100 weekly direct flights for the first time in more than three years since COVID-19.