Photo = Yonhap News
Department store stocks and casino stocks are soaring ahead of the Chinese New Year holiday (February 15-23). This is because the number of Chinese tourists visiting Korea is expected to increase rapidly. It is predicted that sales will increase significantly during the Lunar New Year period due to the Chinese government’s ‘Korea-Japan Order’ (measures restricting relations with Japan) and the weakening won.
According to the Korea Exchange on the 14th, Shinsegae‘s stock price jumped 57.58% this year. Hyundai Department Store also rose 29.33%. During this period, casino stocks such as Paradise (20.52%) and Lotte Tourism Development (11.28%) also rose. These stocks are considered representative stocks that benefit Chinese tourists.
The benefits of the surge in Chinese tourists have already been reflected in companies’ performance since last year. Last year, Shinsegae Department Store’s foreign sales surged 90% compared to the previous year, reaching a record high of over 600 billion won. Last month, foreign sales exceeded 90 billion won, the highest ever monthly sales. Casino companies also saw a net sales increase of 11.3% for Lotte Tourism Development, 25% for Paradise, and 0.8% for GKL last month compared to the previous month.
As the Lunar New Year holiday begins in earnest, sales growth is expected to accelerate further. According to the Korea Tourism Organization, up to 190,000 Chinese tourists will visit Korea during this Lunar New Year holiday. It is expected to increase by 44% compared to last year’s Lunar New Year period. If we add the demand to visit Korea before the start of the holiday to avoid the Lunar New Year crowds, the number of visits is expected to expand further.
Rooms at hotels that operate casinos are already fully booked. The average room reservation rate at Incheon Paradise City during the Lunar New Year period is 95%. The room reservation rate at Grand Hyatt Jeju Island, where the Jeju Dream Tower Casino is located, is virtually full, with a 98% reservation rate.
Kim Yu-hyeok, a researcher at IBK Investment & Securities, pointed out, “After the Japanese Prime Minister mentioned the possibility of ‘Taiwan’s intervention in an emergency’ in November last year, the Chinese government advised its citizens to refrain from visiting Japan due to worsening public security. Accordingly, in December of the same year, the number of Chinese visitors to Japan plummeted by 45.3% to 330,000 compared to the previous year.”
On the other hand, the number of Chinese visitors to Korea during the same period increased by 28.4% to 390,000, exceeding the number of Chinese visitors to Japan for the first time in eight years since 2017.
Researcher Kim said, “Currently, the Chinese government has reduced the number of passenger flights from China to Japan by about 50% compared to the previous period and continues to recommend that people refrain from traveling to Japan during the holidays. It is highly likely that the increase in Chinese visitors to Korea will become even steeper starting around the Lunar New Year period.”
He said, “This will lead to an improvement in the performance of the three casino companies, and a stable growth trend is expected to continue as the peak season enters.” He added, “We will continue to present Lotte Tourism Development and Paradise as the best and second-favorite stocks in the industry.”
Reporter Maeng Jin-gyu maeng@hankyung.com
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date: 2026-02-14 00:11:00
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