What happens in Vegas stays in Incheon?

After years of intense lobbying, LOCZ is rumored to be about to get an official agreement for its casino project in Yeongjong-do*. That's the little name of the Ceasars Entertainment Corporation - Lippo Group JV mentioned in my focus last October on Incheon's Las Vegas ambitions (see "Paradise City v. Sin City").

Awarding the first foreign license to a US-Indonesia duo would certainly balance casino geopolitics in the region. Too bad for Japan (pachinko kings Universal Entertainment), or Macau (Melco International Development, headed by Stanley Ho's son Lawrence), but they may get another chance later.

For the moment, Caesars only operates in the US, Uruguay, the UK, and Egypt, and an entry point in Asia could be a game changer. They did operate a golf in Macau, but had to pull out a couple of years ago from a market very much locked by local players. It's very difficult for outsiders to make it that SAR, even if you're from Hong-Kong - look how Lau and Lo struggle with the law these days**!

Again, casino-wise, Incheon would be the ideal counterweight to Macau, less than two hours away from key East Asian markets, starting with Beijing and even Shanghai: PVG is 500 miles away from ICN, vs 800 for MFM.

Now whoever wins the keys to this future Sin City, let's hope they hire designers with a better taste than what we've seen so far in Incheon:

ICN's cult sculpture "flying to the future", the single-balled erection that has the whole world guffaw as soon as they land in Korea

Last time EightCity*** disclosed their masterplan (2012), I wondered how they would name this strange neighborhood: Dong-dong?

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* see "Seoul to OK casino project on Yeongjong" (Korea Times - 20140316)
** that's Joseph Lau Luen-hung and Steven Lo Kit-sing, who face prison there, see "Legal loophole may let Hong Kong tycoons escape jail in Macau"
*** codename for the developers of the new town: Kempinski, Korean Air, Daewoo Engineering & Construction, CandS Corporation

Paradise City v. Sin City

Last Tuesday, Paradise Group unveiled its "Paradise City" project on Yeongjongdo, a walking distance from Incheon International Airport. Construction starts next year and the first section shall be delivered by 2017. Ultimately, 160,000 visitors shall come daily, including a majority of Chinese tourists and business travelers*.

The KRW 1.9 Tn resort will include hotels, restaurants, convention spaces, and of course Paradise's speciality: foreigner-only casinos. The group already operates one nearby at the Hyatt Regency Incheon, and shouldn't remain the only big player for long in what seems to be the future Korean Las Vegas.

Paradise City

If you remember, a few years ago, IFEZ considered casinos as a potential 'vertical' to boost then ailing Songdo**. If the International Business District has since signed investors more consistent with its initial positioning, the potential remains huge for a gateway that welcomes tens of millions of visitors every year, including a growing number of Chinese citizens, some of whom already own a flat in Songdo. Yeongdongpo already boasts significant tourist infrastructures, and recent visa exemptions for short term stays considerably boosted the market of passengers in transit.


Incheon dreams of becoming the Northeast Asia rival to Macau, and the local casino king Stanley Ho doesn't seem to mind. He even wants to join the party, along with Universal Entertainment (Japan) and Vegas giant Ceasars Entertainment (USA, in a JV with Indonesia's Lippo Group***). But since foreign companies are not allowed to run casinos in Korea, they've been denied agreements so far, giving a head start to the national champion. This might change, and the same players are probably waiting for further regulation evolutions, in particular a "cruise bill" that could allow foreigner-only floating casinos (a life saver for OH Se-hoon's Floating Island?).

The next day, Gangwon-do announced a plan to develop Korea's first nude beach.
Try to top(less) that, KIM Jong-un! In his arms race for olympic gold and tourist silver (brand new water park, Masikryong Ski Resort), the young leader might be tempted to develop new unclad vehicles.


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*"Paradise Co. to build casino complex near Incheon airport" (Yonhap News 20131022)
** "DMC at full throttle - Songdo from Sim City to Sin City?" (2011/04)
*** Midan City: midancity.com