74 gaming
officer Jin S. Yun tells Macau Business and Macau can become successful part-
that the firm expects to triple its revenues ners. Also, his firm is eyeing beyond the
next year. vast Chinese market. Park underlines
that LVegas is also aggressively target-
Lessons from Macau ing other Asian countries like Vietnam,
Cambodia and the Philippines.
Park says his firm’s winning formula Over the past five years, the growth
is its philosophy of total hospitality and of the Japanese market – once the single
entertainment. According to the veteran most important customer base for South
marketing executive, LVegas is the only Korean casinos – has slowed markedly.
casino in Jeju that is attached to a hotel Fortunately the expansion of the Greater
jointly owned and run by the same man- China market - including Taiwan - has
agement, enabling the property to offer more than made up for the loss.
its patrons a total luxury experience. Korea’s gaming industry is growing
“When we bought the hotel and be- more and more dependent on the Chi-
gan to develop the casino, what we had in nese market, much like Macau. Last year
mind was Macau. From Macau’s experi- Japanese accounted for about 37 percent
ence, we knew we needed to put in enter- of the total foreign visitor arrivals in Jeju,
tainment, put in the dining…in short, put while mainland Chinese made up half of
in everything that VIP customers like to the number.
enjoy. So we are very different from the
other casino operators [in Jeju].” Growth incentives
Another telling distinction between
LVegas and other casinos in Jeju is the Although Macau has already se-
newcomer’s VIP operation. cured a strong foothold in the mainland
According to Park, his firm has the Chinese market, Jeju remains competi-
island’s only VIP business that caters tive against Asia’s current gaming giant
to high rollers. It is run through junket thanks to its relatively low gaming tax.
programmes, including a few Macau The island’s 10 percent tax rate on gross Sang H. Park
operators. casino revenues, compared to Macau’s
For example, the firm is using golf nearly 40 percent, implies that Jeju’s ca- ical location are also an advantage: about
tournaments to attract the big spenders. sinos can afford to offer junkets higher one billion people live within two hours
“Our firm’s positioning is very clear. commissions and are still able to obtain of flight distance from Jeju. The flying
We are not interested in the mass mar- the same profit margins as their Macau time from many affluent Chinese coast-
ket but the VIPs – the niche market – counterparts. al cities like Shanghai is also much less
through the help of junkets,” says Park. The island’s world-class transport than that of Macau. And since February
With this in mind, he believes Jeju infrastructure and convenient geograph- this year, Chinese tourists have been
Seven Luck
Tourism Organisation.
The firm believes the number of foreign
motors On
visitors to its three casinos will continue to
rise this year despite the looming global re-
cession.
d
eSPITe the contraction of macau’s “Our business has not been affected
casino business, the chips are not by the global downturn. In fact, the number
yet down for the gaming industry of Japanese and mainland tourists has actu-
in South Korea. The country’s three state- ally increased in recent months due to the
owned casinos Seven Luck have grossed a devaluation of the Korean currency. As the
total revenue of US$300 million in the first Korean Won has become cheaper against
nine months of this year, breaking all pre- the Japanese Yen, more Japanese are com-
vious records. At present Seven Luck ac- ing to South Korea to spend their holidays,”
counts for half of the total earnings of South says Kwon Oh-nam, Seven Luck’s chief ex-
Korea’s 16 foreigners-only casinos. ecutive officer.
The state-owned casino firm welcomed Seven Luck has become one of the
770,000 overseas punters last year. based most profitable casino firms in Asia in a lit-
on the Korea Tourism Organisation’s analy- tle more than two years since it opened its
sis, every three tourists that arrive brings first property in 2006. mr Kwon believes the
about economic benefits equivalent to the state-run firm’s success is largely attributed
export of one car. to its transparency and accountability in
For this achievement Seven Luck has management – something that is harder to
scooped a prestigious award from the Korea
Kwon Oh-nam
achieve in a private company, he says.
A.T.
december 2008
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