South Korean casino stocks retain upward trend amid tourism growth
Some 3 million people visited South Korea in the first quarter of the year.
South Korea.- Casino operators in South Korea have seen significant rises in their share prices since the beginning of the year amid an increase in the number of foreign visitors to the country.
Lotte Tour Development, the operator of Jeju Dream Tower casino, has seens its share price rise by over 50 per cent, reaching a 17-month high of KRW 10,920 on the KOSPI index on May 8. However, the price remains low compared to the five-year high of KRW 20,850 seen in June 2021.
Paradise Co has seen a 28 per cent rise in its share price, while Grand Korea Leisure (GKL) has risen by around 7 per cent.
For the first four months of the year, Lotte Tour casino sales were KRW117.4bn (US$83.9m), a 29.9 per cent increase compared to the same period in 2024. Hotel sales amounted to KRW21.2bn (US$15.1m), down 12.5 per cent.
Paradise Co’s sales were KRW295bn, up 3 per cent year-on-year, and Grand Korea Leisure (GKL) casino sales were up 14.5 per cent to KRW144.42bn (US$103m).
In the first quarter, 3.84 million foreign tourists visited South Korea. In March, more than 1.6 million foreign tourists entered the country, the highest monthly total since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. The months of January, February, and April also showed year-on-year growth, with arrivals surpassing one million each month.
Visitor numbers from China exceeded one million in the first quarter, while Japanese arrivals rose by 19.1 per cent.
