Korea’s foreigner-only casinos are gaining renewed momentum this year, triggered by a steady recovery in inbound tourism and expectations of a surge in Chinese group travel in the second half, according to a recent analysis by Shinhan Securities. According to Shinhan’s analysis report, unlike other tourism segments that move with domestic consumption, casino performance is closely tied to inbound flows, making the pace of Chinese visitor growth the key variable for the remainder of the year. “Inbound indicators such as arrivals, foreign spending and foreigner-only casino earnings are now numerically confirming what the market is feeling as an inbound boom,” Ji In-hae, an analyst at Shinhan, said. Korea’s casino industry is open only to foreign visitors as domestic gambling is tightly controlled under Korean law — Kangwon Land is the only casino open to Koreans. Korea launched a temporary visa-free program for Chinese group tourists last September to revive inbound tourism and regional economies. The brokerage expects earnings to improve across the board, but says the extent of