At a roundtable hosted by the Korea Times on Monday, leaders in hospitality and tourism discussed the potential impact of Japan on South Korea’s domestic industry. They called for a commitment to the IR model, which includes hotels, restaurants, shopping and entertainment anchored by gaming.

For instance, in addition to a casino, MGM Osaka will feature three hotels with 2,500 rooms; 37,000 square metres of conference and exhibition space; a retail district; a 3,500-seat theatre; and a Japanese cultural museum. MGM President and CEO Bill Hornbuckle has said it will “bring MGM’s ‘wow’ DNA from Las Vegas to Osaka”.

From gambling dens to ‘high-value tourism assets’

At the Seoul roundtable, Lee Min-jae, of the Integrated Resort Tourism Research Centre, said South Korea is already losing out to markets like Macau and the Philippines. That pressure will only heighten with the opening of Japan, just 90 minutes by air from Incheon.

“Our casino industry is still focused narrowly on tax revenue and job creation,” Lee said. “Globally, the trend has shifted toward IRs, which are seen as key drivers of tourism and regional growth. But Korea has fallen behind. We need to catch up quickly.”

“Casinos were once seen as a last-ditch tool for reviving weak local economies,” said Yoon Tae-hwan, professor of hotel and convention management at Dong-eui University. “But they have evolved into high-value tourism assets, shifting from VIP-focused venues to large cultural and entertainment hubs for the general public.”

In recent years, Korea has moved toward the IR model. Paradise City in Incheon opened in 2017 with a hotel, theme park and meeting facilities. Jeju Shinhwa World on Jeju Island followed in 2018 with a hotel, theme park and water park. Inspire Entertainment, which debuted in March 2024, went all out. It offers three hotels, a 15,000-seat arena, a glass-domed water park and a massive outdoor entertainment park.

Kangwon Land, the only casino in South Korea that welcomes locals, is also taking its cue from IRs. Last year, it unveiled a KRW2.5 trillion plan to triple its casino space and add non-gaming amenities. With a bigger performance venue, more shopping and “triple the number of restaurants”, the company hopes to boost non-gaming revenue from 13% to 30% by 2032.

Time to ‘strengthen Korea’s global standing’

In a 2024 Korea Times commentary, Osaka researcher Yang Hyung-eun said South Korea has waited too long to advance its IR industry. “The innovation … begins with a shift to the integrated resort industry policy in terms of future growth,” he wrote. “Now is the time for a future vision and philosophy” for South Korean casinos.

At Monday’s conference, tourism professor Lee Jae-seok of Gangneung-Wonju National University noted that “unlike Japan or Singapore, Korea lacks a centralised [gaming] agency”. Presently, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism is the licensing body, while the National Gambling Control Commission oversees regulations.

“The National Gambling Control Commission’s role is too limited and dispersed to be effective,” Lee said. “We need a single body that can both regulate and lead.”

Seo Won-seok, dean of the College of Hotel and Tourism Management at Kyung Hee University and the president of the Tourism Sciences Society of Korea, said South Korea must decide if IRs are “a tool to revitalise underdeveloped regions or positioned as core tourism assets. This should be a key topic in upcoming discussions.”

This week, members of the Korea Casino Tourism Association and Korea Tourism Society convened in Osaka to study MGM’s strategy. In attendance was Choi Cheol-gyu, acting CEO of Kangwon Land. He said Korea faces “a pivotal test … to strengthen [its] global standing in integrated resorts”.