Casino sales on the South Korean holiday island of Jeju – home to half of the nation’s 16 foreigner-only casinos – fell by almost 65% year-on-year in 2020 to just KRW69.30 billion (US$61.5 million).
The decline was a direct result of the global COVID-19 pandemic, which saw tourist numbers plummet and four of Jeju’s casinos remain closed into 2021.
According to local news outlet Jemin Ilbo, casino sales fell 63.6% year-on-year from around KRW190.0 billion (US$168.7 million) in 2019 to just KRW69.30 billion (US$61.5 million) last year. Notably, Jeju’s eight casinos combined for less than half the sales of Paradise Co’s Walkerhill casino in Seoul, which reported sales of around KRW149.2 billion (US$132.5 million) in 2020 – aided by Seoul’s much larger expat community.
The four Jeju casinos to remain operational through most of 2020 were Paradise Co’s Paradise Casino Jeju Grand, Landing Casino at Jeju Shinhwa World, Casino Lotte Tour at Lotte Hotel Jeju, and Gongzi Jeju.
The sharp decline in sales is also of serious concern for Jeju as a whole, with the island’s casinos contributing up to 10% of their sales to the Jeju Tourism Promotion Fund. Those contributions comprise around 80% of the fund’s total resources.
Jeju had previously recorded record casino sales in 2017 of KRW432.73 billion (US$384 million) following the launch of Landing’s Jeju Shinhwa World, but has seen those numbers fall in the years since due largely to declining visitor arrivals from mainland China.
RelatedPosts
