US tribal gaming firm Mohegan Gaming & Entertainment has revealed development of its Korean integrated resort Inspire Korea is running ahead of schedule, with non-gaming offerings due to open later this year.
The update, provided during the company’s 4Q22 earnings call, comes after the completion of financing saw construction of the highly anticipated Incheon property resume in February 2022.
However, it remains unclear exactly when gaming operations will commence with Mohegan CEO Ray Pineault stating, “We anticipate project completion and non-gaming opening in the latter part of 2023, with the casino opening shortly thereafter upon licensing.”
Pineault explained that construction of Inspire is currently running 4.5% ahead of schedule with construction as of 31 January 2023 at 43.5%, although greater investment remains on the cards.
“Following a comprehensive review of Mohegan Inspire, we anticipate making additional equity investments to fund a variety of items related to the project,” he said.
“A significant area of focus is expansion of hotel rooms, convention and meeting rooms plus F&B capacity.
“There has been a strong trend in the Korean local market for staycations and we also want to make sure that our non-gaming amenities are sufficient to capture strong market share and support other programming for the resort, including the arena.”.
Mohegan Inspire is slated to include three hotel towers, an arena, a foreigner-only casino, dining, retail, convention and entertainment options, a year-round indoor water dome experience and an outdoor family park.
It will become the second integrated resort to open in Incheon after Paradise City – the latter being a joint venture partnership between Korea’s Paradise Co and Japanese gaming firm Sega Sammy Holdings.
