Mohegan Gaming & Entertainment CEO Mario Kontomerkos says the company will be “aggressively trying to expand our non-gaming offerings” at its Korean integrated resort Inspire as it prepares to break ground in 2018.
In a lengthy interview in the upcoming June edition of Inside Asian Gaming in which he discusses a range of topics, including Mohegan’s interest in a Japan IR, Kontomerkos tells IAG that Korea’s huge appetite for themed entertainment and film has prompted the company to tweak Inspire’s offerings to provide a broader array of non-gaming features.
“We’ve learned a lot of things since we’ve come to Korea,” he says. “I think one of the things we’ve learned is that the non-gaming aspects of our development can be as important, if not more important, than the gaming aspects. We’ve learned that Korean consumers are the highest consumers per capita of themed entertainment. We’ve learned that Korean consumers are probably the highest consumers per capita of movies as entertainment.
“So the light has gone on regarding several different non-gaming developments. You are going to see us in the next few months aggressively trying to expand our non-gaming offerings in a way that I think will be very, very special.
“We are very excited about the entertainment aspects of Korea and as we meet with folks in Korea, they are very focused on the entertainment aspects of our resort. I think that the real differentiator is in our arena, which will be a platform for worldwide content – Western content, Korean content, plus Asian content. It is truly going to be a very special place.”
Kontomerkos points to the sheer scale of Inspire – which sits on a 600-acre block near Incheon airport with a planned investment of US$5 billion over 20 years – as providing a significant advantage in developing innovative non-gaming products.
“We always wanted to make it the largest integrated resort in Northern Asia,” he says. “I don’t think Korea has seen this scale of integrated resort and entertainment resort that we are looking to build before, so that’s going to be brand new for everybody in Korea and I think that’s going to knock people over.”
The Mohegan boss also highlights the differences between Inspire’s entertainment focus and the more art-themed offerings at Korea’s only current integrated resort, Paradise City – a joint venture between local operator Paradise Co and Japan’s Sega Sammy.
“Inspire is going to be different but also complementary (to Paradise City),” Kontomerkos explains. “We are going to be focused on different things. If you look at they’ve done, they’ve done a nice job of creating this concept of an art theme. Ours will be more focused on entertainment, so I think we’ll be complementary and we will be very good for the whole Incheon region.
“Our product is going to be a platform for South Korean and Western from a musical perspective, from a concert perspective, from F&B and retail perspectives. It’s really going to be a melding of both, which I think will be very successful.”
The full interview with Kontomerkos will be featured in the June edition of IAG from Monday.
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