In South Korea and local casino operator Lotte Tour Development Company Limited has reportedly received final approval to bring a gambling element to its new Jeju Dream Tower development.
According to a Thursday report from GGRAsia, the Seoul-headquartered firm opened the 1,600-room Grand Hyatt hotel within the $1.42 billion property in December and has long intended to complement this offering by premiering an almost 54,000 sq ft casino featuring an assortment of as many as 300 slots and 150 gaming tables. But, the source explained that this plan depends on the operator being given official government authorization to transfer the gambling license for its nearby Paradise Casino Jeju Lotte venue to the 38-story Jeju Dream Tower.
Conclusive consensus:
As part of this process and last month reportedly saw the provincial council for Jeju Province sign off on this transferral for Lotte Tour Development Company Limited by a 29-to-six margin with three abstentions to leave the whole matter in the hands of the semi-autonomous jurisdiction’s governor, Won Hee-Ryong. GGRAsia detailed that this latter consent has now been granted despite protests from a number of local citizen groups.
Compulsory check:
This definitive sanction reportedly means that the envisioned foreigner-only casino for the five-star Jeju Dream Tower could now begin welcoming guests from as soon as next month following a mandatory inspection by the Jeju Casino Business Supervisory Committee that is expected to take approximately 30 days. Lotte Tour Development Company Limited purportedly submitted the gambling-friendly scheme to an official Casino Impact Study Assessment in August that awarded the project with a ‘suitable’ mark.
Significant stipulations:
In return for his endorsement of the plan to bring a casino to Jeju Dream Tower and 57-year-old Won reportedly obliged the provincial council for Jeju Province to insert nine conditions into its own approval document. These purportedly included a clause that will require at least 80% of any jobs created by the coming facility to be for local residents as well as a requirement for Lotte Tour Development Company Limited to come up with ‘proactive’ and ‘detailed’ plans to tackle crime, problem gambling concerns and its donations to area communities.
Inconvenient interruption:
Inside Asian Gaming used its own report into the matter to disclose that Lotte Tour Development Company Limited had earlier hoped to open the casino for its Jeju Dream Tower development, which sits on a 75-acre parcel of land located less than two miles from Jeju International Airport, in March. However, this schedule was purportedly delayed last year so that an official investigation could be conducted into allegations that the operator had fudged the results of a residents’ survey included in the Casino Impact Study Assessment.
Fiscal focus:
The Tourism Minister for Jeju Province reportedly furthermore threw his weight behind the casino plan for the jurisdiction’s tallest building yesterday after divulging that this ongoing probe has yet to turn up any evidence of wrongdoing. Kim Jae-Woong purportedly moreover declared that such a project could well ‘contribute to the revitalization of the Jeju economy’ following a recent period of ‘stagnation’ caused by a coronavirus-related drop in overseas tourism.