The promoter of the Jeju Dream Tower casino resort (pictured), on the South Korean holiday island of Jeju, says it will organise this quarter, two round-trip air charters to Jeju via Tokyo Narita airport Japan, for Japanese VIP players recruited by junkets and travel agencies.
Lotte Tour Development Co Ltd confirmed to GGRAsia the first set of tourists would arrive at Jeju International Airport on November 4, and return to Japan on November 6, while the second set would arrive on December 30, and fly back to Japan on January 3.
Japan is Jeju’s second-largest source market for tourists, according to the Jeju Tourism Organization, a local-government agency for the semi-autonomous island.
Lotte Tour Development had announced last week that South Korea’s T’way Air Co Ltd would operate the charters, which would carry up to 189 passengers per flight.
A representative at Jeju Dream Tower’s operator stated in response to a GGRAsia telephone enquiry: “We will recruit charter flight tourists through junkets as well as travel agencies in Japan, and all passengers would stay at Grand Hyatt Jeju hotel at Jeju Dream Tower.”
Lotte Tour Development had reported second-quarter gross gaming revenue (GGR) at Jeju Dream Tower’s casino amounting to KRW15.3 billion (US$10.7 million), down approximately 17.3 percent from the KRW18.5 billion achieved in the prior quarter.
On October 19, South Korea’s Central Disease Control Headquarters announced the country would extend indefinitely a visa-free entry scheme for holders of passports issued respectively by Japan, Macau and Taiwan. The scheme had been extended once already, and had been due to run until October 31.
In other developments, Jeju’s airport will host a daily T’way Air service to and from Kansai International Airport serving the Greater Osaka area in Japan, from November 11.
Jeju’s air hub currently operates international flights to and from: Suvarnabhumi Airport, Bangkok, Thailand; Mactan-Cebu International Airport in Cebu in the Philippines; Singapore Changi Airport; and Xi’an Xianyang International Airport, China.
The Jeju authorities had authorised resumption of international air services to the island from May 1, with the first such service operating on June 2.
