Kangwon’s casino turnover up 5.8 pct in 2013: report

Jun 12, 2014 Newsdesk Latest News, Rest of Asia, Top of the deck  

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The only casino resort in South Korea where nationals are allowed to gamble posted a turnover increase of 5.8 percent last year, according to a study by the Korea Leisure Industry Institute (Kole).

The turnover of the property, owned by South Korea’s Kangwon Land Inc, went up to 1.3 trillion won (US$1.3 billion), Korea Bizwire reports, quoting the study. It attributes the increase to an addition of 400 slot machines, adding that admission numbers at the casino rose by 1.4 percent to 3.06 million last year.

The study by Kole says South Korea’s legally sanctioned gambling industry, not including foreigners-only casinos and bullfighting, saw 2013 sales revenue stall at 18.3 trillion won.

The sales of lotteries rose 1.5 percent to 3.2 trillion won. The ratio of lotto revenue in the total gambling industry was 17.7 percent, up 0.3 percentage points from a year ago, the study shows.

There are currently 17 casinos in South Korea, but Korean nationals are only allowed to gamble at Kangwon Land. Earlier this year, the government approved the construction of the country’s first foreign-owned casino resort.

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