Citing Business Korea News, NH Investment & Securities reported on the 20th that the recovery of the Korean casino economy in the second half of 2023 will help Chinese tourists, especially popular market customers, return home.

Analyst Hazel Lee said South Korea's casino industry enjoys "solid earnings" in the first half despite "concerns" over a potential "economic slowdown."

In comments earlier this year on China's zero-COVID policy and the subsequent easing of international travel restrictions, she added that the recovery should "continue" in the second half of 2023, driven by the return of Chinese customers.

"With China's ongoing crackdown on VIPs, the "demand rebound" is likely to be centered around large customers.

Chinese authorities have continued to stress crackdowns on citizens travelling abroad for casino play over the years or those involved in online gambling, commonly referred to as "cross-border gambling," and revised the criminal law to make it illegal to help others, effective March 1, 2021.

NH Investment is one of the largest casino operators in KoreaHe said he prefers Is because of the company's "competitiveness" in attracting tourists to the mass market thanks to the IsCity integrated resort 경마사이트 .

Several listed casino operators in South Korea reported their respective first-quarter earnings earlier this month, with the majority showing strong year-on-year profit growth.

Foreign Isco's net profit in the first quarter was 6.99 billion won (US$5.3 million), up from a deficit of 4.05 billion won in the previous three months and 28.58 billion won in the first quarter of last year.

Grand Korea Leisure Co., Ltd., which operates a casino exclusively for foreigners, also posted a net profit of nearly 21.6 billion won in the first quarter of this year, compared to a net loss of 10.78 billion won in the same period last year and 8.95 billion won in the previous quarter.

Kangwon Land, the promoter of Gangwon Land, the only casino resort in Korea, posted a net loss of 5.85 billion won in the first quarter of 2023, with net profit of 101.54 billion won, and profits increased by 1001.6% from 9.22 billion won in the fourth quarter of last year.

Overall excluded from the positive trend was the Jeju Dream Tower Casino Resort on the South Korean resort island of Jeju, with the casino sector posting a net loss of 2.19 billion won in the first quarter, compared with a net loss of 1.01 billion won in the first quarter of 2022.