Lotte Tour reports fall in Jeju Dream Tower casino sales in February
Casino sales fell by 5.5 per cent year-on-year.
South Korea.- Lotte Tour Development, the operator of Jeju Dream Tower casino, has reported that casino sales fell to KRW22.62bn (US$15.5m) in February. That’s a decline of 5.5 per cent year-on-year and 23.1 per cent sequentially.
Table-game sales amounted to KRW20.71bn (US$14m), down 9.1 per cent in year-on-year terms and 26.4 per cent sequentially. Machine-game sales rose to KRW1.91bn (US$1.3m), up 63.2 per cent in year-on-year terms and 49 per cent sequentially.
In the hotel sector, Jeju Dream Tower reported sales of KRW4.51bn (US$3.1m). That’s a decline of 26.5 per cent year-on-year and a 17.8 per cent drop from January.
For the first two months of this year, casino sales reached KRW52.04bn (US$36m), an 8.8 per cent increase from the prior-year period. Hotel sales amounted to KRW9.99bn (US$6.8m), down 11.3 per cent. Casino sales for the full year 2024 rose 93.3 per cent year-on-year to KRW294.65bn (US$200.7m).
Jeju residents split on casino impact, survey reveals
In January, the government of Jeju Island conducted a survey on the island’s foreigner-only casino industry. Among the 1,000 respondents, 25.7 per cent viewed the overall effect of the casinos as positive while 28.6 per cent considered it negative. The remaining 45.7 per cent had no opinion.
Some 49.9 per cent agreed that casinos contributed to inbound tourists staying longer in Jeju, while 21.6 per cent disagreed and 28.5 per cent were neutral. Meanwhile, 49 per cent of respondents thought casinos help to attract foreign tourists.
When asked about the types of projects casinos should undertake to benefit the local community, 34.7 per cent believed that casinos should focus on creating job opportunities for youth, 29.7 per cent cited the tourism industry, 14.9 per cent village development, 12.2 per cent vulnerable groups and 8.5 per cent programmes for students.
