{"id":777044815,"date":"2026-07-13T08:54:21","date_gmt":"2026-07-13T11:54:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/?p=777044815"},"modified":"2026-07-13T08:54:37","modified_gmt":"2026-07-13T11:54:37","slug":"rise-in-chinese-tourism-improves-outlook-for-south-koreas-foreigner-only-casinos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/rise-in-chinese-tourism-improves-outlook-for-south-koreas-foreigner-only-casinos","title":{"rendered":"Rise in Chinese tourism improves outlook for South Korea\u2019s foreigner-only casinos"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Analysts expect South Korean casino operators to post stronger results in the second half of 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

South Korea.- The Korea Tourism Organisation has reported that 2.56 million Chinese travellers visited the country between January and May. That’s a rise of 25 per cent year-on-year<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Analysts say the rise in inbound tourism is helping to drive performance for the nation\u2019s foreigner-only casinos. Shinhan Investment & Securities forecasts that Paradise Group <\/strong>will see second-quarter revenue of KRW318.7bn (US$212m) and operating profit of KRW43.9bn (US$29m).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lotte Tour Development <\/strong>is also expected to benefit from higher international traffic. Shinhan projects second-quarter revenue of KRW196.0bn (US$130m) and operating profit of KRW52.0bn (US$34m). Analysts also expect growth at Grand Korea Leisure, which operates foreigner-only casinos in Seoul and Busan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While arrivals from other Asian nations, including Japan, have also increased, there’s now expectation for further growth from China if a proposal for a visa-free policy for Chinese groups goes ahead.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n\t\t\tSee also:<\/span><\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\tSee also:<\/span> Grand Korea Leisure casino sales up 6.9% in June<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Analysts expect South Korean casino operators to post stronger results in the second half of 2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":680,"featured_media":16376,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"South Korean foreigner-only casino operators are projected to achieve stronger financial results in H2 2026, primarily driven by a significant increase in Chinese inbound tourism. Analysts forecast substantial Q2 revenue and operating profit for key players like Paradise Group and Lotte Tour Development, with further growth anticipated if a proposed visa-free policy for Chinese groups is implemented. This positive outlook is underpinned by a 25% year-on-year rise in Chinese visitors.","focusai_entities":"Korea Tourism Organisation, Shinhan Investment & Securities, Paradise Group, Lotte Tour Development, Grand Korea Leisure","focusai_location":"South Korea, China, Japan, Seoul, Busan","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.9), regulator (0.7), operator_casino (1.0), marketing_crm (0.7), investor_analyst (1.0), supplier_vendor (0.7), journalist_researcher (0.9)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"Visa Policy GGR Uplift","query":"What is the projected GGR uplift for South Korean foreigner-only casinos if the proposed visa-free policy for Chinese groups is fully implemented, and how does this compare to current growth trajectories?"},{"label":"Operator Profit Drivers","query":"Beyond increased Chinese tourism, what specific operational efficiencies or market diversification strategies are Paradise Group and Lotte Tour Development employing to achieve their projected operating profit margins?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[28,16338],"tags":[12436,23851,1705,152,24680],"class_list":["post-777044815","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-casino-news","category-east-asia-news","tag-casinos","tag-lotte-tour-development","tag-paradise-co","tag-south-korea","tag-tourism"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777044815","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/680"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=777044815"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777044815\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":777044822,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777044815\/revisions\/777044822"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16376"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=777044815"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=777044815"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=777044815"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}