The $1.8 billion integrated resort Jeju Shinhwa World, located on Jeju Island continues to work on finishing its project. Today, 11th September, a local investment promotion centre announced that the resort is to open a movie theme park and a K-pop entertainment center by the end of September. The project’s developer known to be the Honk-Kong based company Landing International announced that more facilities will be added to the resort and the entire project is expected to be completed by 2019, featuring 344 units in total.
Jeju Shinhwa World integrated resort is placed in one of the most strategic places in South Korea, and more precisely on the island of Jeju – popular destination among players from Mainland China. The resort aims to attract high-end foreign visitors. The resort is to spread over 2.5 million square meters, including gambling and non-gambling activities. The resort is also to offer accommodation options to its guests.
Jeju Free International City Development Center (JDC) commented that the company looks to diversify its investors, as the Chinese nationals are currently the most actively participating in the funding process. Hence, the upcoming opening of the movie theme park seems to match Jeju Shinhwa World’s idea, as the project is to be realized in partnership with Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation (a U.S.-based entertainment corporation). The theme park is to offer 7 movie zones, each dedicated to some of the top Box Office movies such as “The Hunger Games”, “The Twilight Saga” and others.
Including also non-gambling entertainments, the developers aim to attract well-off foreign visitors, who are not attached to casino games. Besides targeting non-gamblers, the company aims to set its resort apart from the competition in the area, which is also constantly trying to bolster its positions and attract the customer flow. Jeju Shinhwa World is currently under construction, continuing to work on the different phases of its project and it is the 18th casino to open doors in South Korea.
Setbacks in the Implementation of the Project
Due to political issues between Korea and Japan, the Jeju Shinhwa World’s project saw 2 of its main investors quitting the project. The investors under questions are Bloomsbury Resorts and Genting Singapore Plc. In November 2016, the latter company sold its interest in Jeju Shinhwa World, explaining that it targets investment in Japan, which is currently on the brink of opening its gambling market. Landing International, on the other hand, remained optimistic that the South Korean resort will continue to tease the appetites of the VIP players and continued working on the project. It seems that Jeju Shinhwa World is now slowly but surely approaching the final stage of the project.
