South Korean Casinos to Profit from Chinese Spring Festival Revelers

Grand Korea Leisure and Paradise casinos will have influx of Chinese tourists celebrating the 7 day Festival in South Korea.

Chinese tourists are stocking up on cosmetics and casino-related and travel-related articles, as they prepare for the Chinese Spring Festival Golden Week holiday, just 3 weeks away. The seven-day long festivities start February 18 and already an influx of Chinese tourists, coming to celebrate in South Korean Poker rooms and elsewhere, around the country, is expected.

AmorePacific, the largest cosmetic purveyor in Korea, says its shares on the Korea Exchange have been on the rise for six trading days in a row, since January 19. With the 14 % increase, it is little wonder that on January 27, the stock reached record-breaking level of almost $3000.

Chinese New Year – February 19, 2015

Analyst with IBK Investment & Securities, Ahn Ji-young, thinks that AmorePacific’s rising stocks are a great by-product of the Chinese holiday. Young said Chinese shoppers go mostly for cosmetics and clothing items and AmorePacific is targeted by customers since sales in duty-free shops in Korea have reached an all-time high.

The Korea Tourism Organization forecast that Chinese tourists will reach 80,000 for the seven-day holiday, including the Chinese New Year, which is celebrated on February 19. Taking into account those coming from Greater China regions, including Taiwan and Hong Kong, that will spike the number of tourists to over 100,000.

Casino operators like Grand Korea Leisure and Paradise who can operate in South Korea thanks to the South Korean gambling laws, affording foreigners-only casinos that luxury, are also set to profit big time from the Chinese visitors coming to gamble.