Grand Korea Leisure Inc. (GKL), which runs a foreigner-only casino under the Seven Luck brand in South Korea, told GGRAsia that it plans to continue to have two casino locations in the capital city despite media reports that one of its current venues will be sold and demolished for redevelopment.
A GKL official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the company had been working on a contingency plan since last year, mindful of the possibility that the Millennium Hilton Seoul Hotel (pictured) would be sold. The official added that the lease of GKL’s casino facilities is “until Dec. 31, 2022.”
GKL operates the Gangbuk Millennium Seoul Casino inside the hotel. The group’s other Seoul casino is in COEX, Gangnam.
The official told GGRA that there is no chance of integrating Gangbuk and Gangnam businesses only at the COEX venue, and GKL still plans to have two casinos in the capital.
The hotel will continue to operate “through the end of next year” under the terms of the hotel business management agreement, Millennium Hilton Seoul booking representative told GGRAsia in response to phone inquiries on Wednesday. As of Wednesday, the hotel’s room reservation website was still accepting bookings for 2022.
The building, home to Millennium Hilton Seoul and GKL’s Gangbuk Millennium Casino, will be sold by Singapore-listed City Development Inc., the Korea Economic Daily reported Monday, citing investment bank sources.
The media reported that the prospective buyer is an IGIS asset management company based in Seoul, paying about 1 trillion won ($894 million) for the building and redeveloping the site into office and hotel space.
GKL’s Gangbuk casino posted a 64.9% drop in sales for all of 2020, in line with disruptions related to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to integrated industry data from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism released in early May.
Such sales were W777.79 billion in 2020, compared to W221.46 billion in 2019. The number of visits to the Gangbuk Millennium Casino dropped 72.5 percent to 230,064 in 2020, compared to 901,723 in 2019. According to data from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, the number of casino visitors fell 71.3 percent in 2020 compared to the previous year.
GKL is a subsidiary of the Korea Tourism Organization, which is affiliated with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. The group operates three game venues in Korea: the Gangbuk Millennium and the Gangnam COEX in Seoul, as well as the Lotte Casino in Busan.
BY: 토토사이트 추천
