Foreigner casinos post higher revenues in South Korea
Companies operating Foreigner-only casinos in South Korea reported year-on-year improvements in revenues during August.
South Korea.- Operators of the foreigner-only casinos in South Korea celebrated their performance in August. Paradise Co operates the Paradise City, the Paradise Walker-hill, Jeju Grand and Busan Casino. The company reported a staggering 36.1% year-on-year increase in casino revenue last month to €52.6 million.
According to the latest financial reports, it was due to higher volume, as table drop rose 24.4% to €473.13 million. Table game revenue was also up 39.1% to €50 million, while slot machine revenue fell 4.3% to €2.5 million.
GKL —which operates three Seven Luck casinos in Seoul and Busan— posted a 4.5% increase in casino sales. Last month, it reached €40.2 million, improving 28.9% over July numbers.
Casino restrictions
The casino industry may receive a blow should a recently-introduced bill get passed by South Korea’s National Assembly. The proposed legislation would raise the minimum age to access gaming venues from the current 19 to 21 years old.
In case the bill gets passed, the Tourism Promotion Act would see its articles 22 and 28 being changed in order to impact every one of the 17 casinos licenced by that legislation. The proposal was submitted by lawmaker Kim Kwang-soo (also sponsored by the other nine) and is aimed at preventing gambling addiction among the South Korean youth.
The only venue which admits local gamblers, Kangwon Land casino is expected to be the one to suffer the most if the bill gets approved (according to a GGRAsia source) as it relies on locals’ play. Its profit had already fallen by 32.1% during full-year 2018 due to an 8.3% drop in gaming revenue.
