Jeju Winter International Flights Up 39%, Lifting Casino Outlook
Jeju's winter international flights rose 39% year-on-year, boosting prospects for the island's foreigners-only casinos.Summary
International flights at Jeju International Airport will total 486 per week during the winter schedule from Oct. 25 to March 27, up 39.3% from a year earlier and 9.0% above the preceding summer schedule, according to Korea Airports Corp. The growth is driven by expanded service to Macau, which shifts from three late-night flights a week to daily daytime service starting Nov. 16, a new daytime Hong Kong flight, and new Chinese routes including Yangzhou, Shijiazhuang and Guangzhou. KB Securities analyst Choi Yong-hyun said the added flights should keep visitor numbers climbing at the Dream Tower casino operated by Lotte Tour Development, where club membership reached 166,000 in the third quarter and casino guests account for about half of hotel occupancy. Foreign guests made up 91% of stays at the Grand Hyatt Jeju in September, up from about 76% in July, and Dream Tower casino drew a record 188,000 visitors in the third quarter, up 9% year-on-year. Industry officials expect the benefits to spread to Jeju's eight casinos and the broader tourism industry, where foreign tourists' card spending rose 38.7% year-on-year to 520.1 billion won from January through September, while domestic card spending fell 4.8%.
(Source：서울경제)