As reported by Inside Asian Gaming, Mohegan Gaming and Entertainment, a Connecticut-based tribal gaming company operated by the Mohegan Tribe, reveals that it expects the possible market size for Mohegan Inspire, its integrated resort (IR) in South Korea, to include 4.7 million “gaming trips” per year, which involve incoming and overseas tourists or holders of dual passports.

Company’s prediction:

During a presentation on the occasion of the Investor’s Day, which occurred on September 21, the company said that “its forecast takes into account an estimated 13.5 million inbound visitors arriving in Seoul each year and their propensity to game, as well as the propensity to game of the city’s 1.5 million foreign residents and dual passport holders.” Particularly, the leading operator calculated an overall of 3.2 million “gaming trips” starting in 2024 from inbound tourists, including 584,000 trips from Japan, 1.8 million from mainland China and 791,000 from the rest of the countries based on gambling preferences.

Additionally, further trips, aka 1.5 million, would come from overseas inhabitants residing nearby, comprising 24.000 Japanese, 979,000 Chinese and 308,000 from rest of the countries, with 215,000 Koreans, who own dual passports, also involved in the market size calculation.

However, the firm doesn’t assert that all these aforementioned trips will be exclusively to Inspire, as IR has some regional rivals such as Paradise City among other “foreigner-only” properties in Seoul. But, the full market value of these customers is roughly calculated to be approximately US$1.83 billion annually, of which US$1.24 billion is assumed to be generated from the “premium direct” portion and US$593 million from “mass and premium mass.”

Future goals:

In compliance with the details from the investor presentation, the aforementioned IR will use its affiliates and player development offices to target premium direct and premium mass players, but also intends to enter into partnership with major global junket companies to lure players and offer credit and billing support procedures.

Moreover, in a further update, Mohegan said that the construction of Mohegan Inspire located in Incheon is now 97% finished and everything is on schedule for its official launch planned for the fourth quarter of 2023. As soon as it opens, visitors may be able to enjoy 3 hotel towers that together have 1,200 rooms, a “foreigner-only” casino, an arena, convention, dining, entertainment and retail options, as well as a year-round water dome experience and an external family park.

When it officially opens, it will become the second integrated resort in Incheon just after Paradise City, which is a joint development brought to life by a partnership between Korea’s Paradise Co and Sega Sammy Holdings, a Japanese international entertainment company.