Mere hours ago, Grand Korea Leisure, which is an affiliate of Korea Tourism Organization, announced that it is planning to establish casinos intended for foreigners. They will be available on cruise ships.
People with knowledge on the matter, defined GKL officials’ decision as a well-though-out one. The main reason for such a move stems from the law passage, related to the cruise sector. Members of the National Assembly have already passed a law aimed at boosting the above-mentioned sector. The law will come into force sometime in the summer.
A representative of GKL said that the company has hired professionals, capable of providing precise forecast about the future of the cruise industry in the region. Currently, the cruise sector is untapped but it seems like it can turn into a profitable one.
The GKL representative also added that their target group will be predominantly Chinese tourists who use cruise vessels in order to visit Korea.
In conclusion, the GKL official said that company’s top priority is boosting tourism sector and applying an innovative approach for developing the cruise industry. What is more, they have been preparing for that project for more than a year. Plus, they are currently reviewing the possibility of establishing casinos on foreign cruise lines’ ships. The other alternative is the establishment of cruise lines on the territory of the country.
In case the second option becomes a reality and GKL becomes a licensed cruise operator, its cruise lines will be the only one in Korea, managed by a private company.
As already mentioned, the company appointed a team of professionals in order to have an insight into the future development of the sector. However, the results from the survey are not likely to be revealed soon.
Nevertheless, other statements issued by Korean officials, show that there is a rapid growth in the percentage of tourists who use the cruise ships.
There were approximately 150,000 foreigners who traveled to Korea by cruise vessels in 2011. By comparison, their number reached more than 1 million during 2014. It is also important to note that the majority of visitors were from China. The total sum they spent during their stay in the country was more than KRW 1 trillion.
Korean officials are well-aware of the benefits the expansion of the cruise industry would bring and they consider it to have all chances to become a reliable source of stable annual revenues.
GKL itself is a company that has already consolidated its positions on the market. It operates three casinos, located in Seoul and Buscan. They are intended for foreigners only.
