Visitors watch the dancing fountain show at the state-owned Kangwon Land Resort, which is the casino in South Korea where the domestic population are permitted to gamble. (Image: YouTube)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nSouth Korea\u2019s gaming regulator reported that revenue for the country\u2019s 16 foreigner-only casinos grew to roughly $1.38 billion in 2018, compared to just over $1 billion from the previous year.<\/p>\n
The foreigner-only casino sector reported a 6.2 percent slump in 2017 after China imposed a partial travel ban in retaliation for South Korea\u2019s deployment in 2016 of a US backed THAAD missile system as a response to North Korean aggression.<\/p>\n
The deployment angered Beijing, which claimed the anti-missile system was capable of detecting Chinese military secrets.<\/p>\n
Beijing ordered travel companies to stop package trips to South\u00a0Korea, imposing quasi-economic sanctions on the country\u2019s tourism industry.<\/p>\n
$4.5 Billion Tourism Hit<\/strong><\/h2>\nThe Bank of Korea estimated the ban translated into $4.5 billion in lost revenue for the tourism industry as a whole in 2017. Chinese tourists previously accounted for about half the revenue of South Korean hotel chains and duty-free shops.<\/p>\n
But since South Koreans are prohibited from gambling in all but one of the country\u2019s casinos, the gambling sector was particularly hard hit.<\/p>\n
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The two countries agreed to resume bilateral relations in late 2017 — and China claimed to have lifted the travel ban — although a year later the South China Moring Post<\/em> reported that the restriction remained partially in place and advertisements showing South Korean celebrities were still not shown on Chinese TV.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nNevertheless, as of March 2018, tourist numbers were said to be increasing. One source told SCMP <\/em>that the \u201cattitudes from the Chinese side are not as cold as last year, but never as warm as before.\u201d<\/p>\n