An expansive integrated resort encompassing a hotel, foreigners-only casino and a shopping mall located in Yeonjong Island adjacent to the country’s main international gateway in Incheon opened on Thursday, its operator Paradise Group said.

The Paradise City developed by Paradise Sega Sammy, a joint venture between Paradise Group and Japanese casino operator Sega Sammy Holdings, spans over 330,000 square meters of lot.

The first-phase opening includes a hotel, casino, and convention center. Other auxiliary facilities like spa and concert hall will be available by the first half of next year. The construction of the resort started in November 2014, costing 1.3 trillion won ($1.1 billion) for the first-stage development.

The 10-story hotel building shaped in the letter Y has 711 rooms with the hotel commanding from fourth to the rooftop. The largest foreigner-only casino “Paradise Casino” is on the ground floor.

The complex is rich with 2,700 artworks by internationally-renowned artists like Damien Hirst and Yayoi Kusama.

It takes about 40 minutes to reach the area from downtown Seoul by subway. Magnetic levitation train and shuttle buses from Incheon International Airport also stop at the resort.

Phil-lip Chun, chairman of Paradise Group, said the resort would help to revive domestic tourism industry.

By Choi Seung-jin

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