An Analysis of the Importance of Local Support Factors of the Development of Integrated Resorts

Abstract

The casino-based integrated resort (IR), which started in Las Vegas in the United States, has moved to Asia and successfully opened Macau’s IR and Singapore’s Marina Bay Sands. As of 2019, three IRs, Inspire, Paradise City, and Midan City, are being constructed in Yeongjongdo Island and, among them, Paradise City is currently in operation after completing its first stage of development. Although the planned creation of three integrated resorts on Yeongjongdo Island was accompanied by the government’s policy support and legal support, the support of the local residents for the IR development projects can have a different effect from that of other areas. For the development of integrated resorts, not only the policy and legal support but also the local support is an important factor. So, this study was conducted focusing on which part of the integrated resort development project should be considered important to get sufficient local support. The results of this study showed that the resort operators and local residents have different opinions on the importance of local support factors. The so-called integrated resort experts considered the environmental and socio-cultural factors important, while the local residents considered factors such as the establishment and completion of the development plan as well as the sustainability as the most important factors. It is expected that this study will contribute to the formation of trust in the relevant policies by disclosing the contents of the implementation and system improvement of IR development projects and providing participation opportunities for residents in the process. This study will be also able to provide objective guidance in decision-making to policymakers who plan the development of such integrated resorts by identifying the factors important to elicit support from the local residents in advance, as well as to public or private developers who want to proceed with IR development projects.

1. Introduction

1.1. Study Background and Purpose

The casino-based integrated resort (IR), which started in Las Vegas in the United States, has moved to Asia and successfully opened Macau’s IR and Singapore’s Marina Bay Sands. As of 2019, three IRs, Inspire, Paradise City, and Midan City, are being constructed in Yeongjongdo Island, and Paradise City is currently in operation after completing its first stage development.

It is true that the casino industry has been negatively perceived by people because of its highly speculative and addictive nature. In particular, Kangwon Land, Korea’s one and only casino that allows access to local people, was opened in order to revitalize the local economy and increase the income of local residents in underdeveloped closed mine areas through the enactment of the Special Act on Supporting Development of Closed Mine Areas. The Kangwon Land project started under the support of local residents with the aim of developing underdeveloped areas, promoting local revitalization, and increasing the income of local residents.

Recently, however, conflicts have continued in Kangwon Land, because of a disagreement with local residents [1] about the closing time of casinos and a disagreement with the local government [2] about the calculation standard of closed mine funds for the return of profits to local communities. Kangwon Land continuously makes efforts to revitalize the local economy using natural and industrial heritage by holding seminars on the “utilization of forests and nature of closed mine areas” [3]. However, there are also pros and cons to alternative projects that Kangwon Land intends to carry out pursuant to the related rules to support alternative industries that can increase the income of local residents and revitalize the local economy, substituting the coal industry [4].

In Jeju Island, the Iho Amusement Park Development Project, which intended to develop a resort, including an eight-story, 1200-room hotel and a casino on the beach near the center of Jeju City, was suspended for 10 years due to the opposition of the local government against the casino. Recently, however, the project was finally approved after the project gave up the casino [5].

In the Free Economic Zone of Yeongjongdo Island, Incheon, three integrated resorts, including casinos, are planned to be built, for which the government is providing policy support and improving the legal system. However, the examples of the Kangwon Land and Jeju Island mentioned above show us that it is very important to obtain local support in carrying out development projects and to make practical efforts for cooperation with local residents during IR operation, even with government policy support. Unlike other resort development projects, the integrated resort development projects influence the local areas more deeply, so the support from local residents is considered more important than anything else.

In Korea, the development of casino-based integrated resorts has just begun, so related research is not actively being conducted. Existing studies are on general resorts, and research on casino-based integrated resorts is in the beginning stage.

One of the characteristics of integrated resort development is a large-scale development. Therefore, the proposition of “sustainable development” should always be kept in mind. The development of casino-based integrated resorts is not an open theme from the social and legal perspective and from the standpoints of local residents. There are always problems in the planning, progress, and operation of the reports’ development projects, so sustainable development is very important.

It is expected that this study will contribute to the formation of trust in the relevant policies by disclosing the detailed contents of the IR development projects and providing participation opportunities for residents in the process. This study will also be able to provide objective guidance in decision-making, not only for policymakers who plan the development of such integrated resorts by identifying factors important to elicit support from the local residents, but also for public or private developers who want to proceed with the IR development projects. This study will also be able to contribute to the sustainability of integrated resorts constructed in Korea.

1.2. Study Scope and Method

The spatial scope of this study will be limited to Yeongjongdo Island, located in Incheon Metropolitan City, where casino-based integrated resorts are being operated or constructed.

Two methods are used in this study. The first method is a process of deriving indicators through previous studies, where we extract the factors related to local support and verify the adequacy of the factors by carrying out professional group interviews (FGI). Next, we conduct a questionnaire survey using the AHP (Analytic Hierarchy Process) model to identify the importance of the factors from the standpoint of IR development experts and local residents, and derive the results and analyze their differences.

2. Theoretical Study and Review of Previous Studies

2.1. Current Status of Integrated Resorts

2.1.1. Concept of Integrated Resorts

The term “resort” was first used in Yongpyeong in Korea, and in 2010, when the casino-based Marina Bay Sands and Resorts World Sentosa were developed, the Singapore government started to call them integrated resorts. Since then, the term “integrated resort” has been generalized and widely used at home and abroad [6].

Different countries refer to the resort differently; Japan calls them integrated resorts, Australia calls them integrated tourism resorts (ITR), and the Philippines call them entertainment cities [7].

Recently, there has been an increasing tendency in Korean people to recognize that casinos are included in integrated resorts, even if they are not specifically indicated.

In this study, we define the concept of integrated resorts as a comprehensive facility that includes accommodation facilities, conference facilities, and related amusement parks and shopping facilities, including casinos, with some connectivity with surrounding tourist attractions.

2.1.2. Current Status of Foreign and Domestic Integrated Resorts

Currently, three integrated resorts are being built in Yeongjongdo Island, Incheon Metropolitan City.

The first one is the Inspire IR (Inspire Integrated Resort) at the left side of the Incheon International Airport, which is being built by Mohegan Gaming & Entertainment (MGE). As of the end of October 2019, MGE signed a contract with Hanwha E&C, and the construction will start in 2020 in full scale and the resort is expected to be opened stage by stage [8].

The second one is RFCZ Korea (Guangzhou R&F Properties, Caesars) located in Midan City. As of the end of October 2019, the basement frame construction was completed and the ground basement construction is in progress. The interior work will start soon [9].

The third one is Paradise City, located in the International Business District. The first-stage facility was fully opened when the Wonder Box, the final facility of the first stage, was opened at the end of March 2019, but additional development was not yet decided because the development plan for the second-stage site was not concretely fixed [10].

Now, take a look at the foreign integrated resorts in Macau, the Philippines, Las Vegas, etc.

First, in Macau, six representative integrated resorts, Sands China, Galaxy Entertainment, Wynn Macau, Melco Resorts, SJM, and MGM China, are being operated.

Among them, Sands China, a subsidiary of Las Vegas Sands of the United States, entered the Macau IR market with the opening of Sands Macau in May 2004. The corporate value of Sands China, listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX) in November 2009, is estimated at USD 34.56842 billion (about KRW 38.5092 trillion) as of 31 December 2018 [11]. Sands China owns and operates a total of five IRs—Sands Macao, located in Macau Peninsula, the Venetian Macao, the Plaza Macao, Sands Cotai Central, and the Parisian Macao, located in Cotai (Sands China, 2019). In 2018, it generated a net revenue of USD 8.689 billion (about KRW 9.5673 trillion), a 14.2% increase from 2017 [11]. Galaxy Entertainment Group (hereinafter referred to as “Galaxy Entertainment”) was selected as Macau’s first-phase casino operator in 2002 and now it operates Galaxy Macau, the number one global sales IR, as its main IR [12,13]. The corporate value of Galaxy Entertainment, listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX) in October 1991, is estimated at USD 26.83974 billion (about KRW 29.8995 trillion) as of 31 December 2018 [12,13]. Starting with the opening of Waldo Casino in July 2004, Galaxy Entertainment opened Rio Casino in January 2006, President Casino in April 2006. Grand Waldo Casino in September 2006, Star World Macau in October 2006, Galaxy Macau in May 2011, and Broadway Macau in May 2015, one by one [14]. Its total net revenue in 2018 was USD 7.045 billion (about KRW 7.7571 trillion), a 12.9% increase from 2017 [12,13].

Wynn Macau, a subsidiary of Wynn Resorts of the United States, entered Macau IR market with the opening of Wynn Macau in September 2006. The corporate value of Sands China, listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX) in 2009, is estimated at USD 11.3219 billion (about KRW 12.6126 trillion) as of 31 December 2018. Wynn Macau owns Wynn Macau in Macau Peninsula and Wynn Palace in Cotai [15,16,17,18]. Wynn Macau, which was opened in 2006, went through one expansion with the opening of Encore, its second tower, in April 2010, and opened a new IR Wynn Palace in 2016. Its total net revenue in 2018 was USD 5.052 billion, a 15.7% increase from 2017 [15,16,17,18].

Melco Resorts & Entertainment (hereinafter referred to as “Melco Resorts”), a subsidiary of Melco International Development in Hong Kong, entered Macau IR market with the opening of Mocha Clubs in 2003. The corporate value of Melco Resorts, listed on the NASDAQ (National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations) in 2011, is estimated at USD 8.63403 billion (about KRW 9.6183 trillion) as of 31 December 2018 [19,20,21,22]. Melco Resorts operates eight Mocha Clubs, Altira Macau, and Grand Dragon Casino in the entire Macau region, and City of Dreams and Studio City Casino in the Cotai region [23].

SJM Holdings (hereinafter “SJM”) was the first casino operator in Macau to receive casino licenses from the Macau government in 2002 and is owned by the family of Chairman Stanley Ho, the kingpin of the Macau casino industry. The corporate value of SJM, listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX) in July 2008, is estimated at USD 5.17796 billion (about KRW 5.7682 trillion) as of 31 December 2018 [24,25,26]. SJM operates a total of 22 casinos, including 4 casinos that it directly operates and 18 satellite casinos operated by other companies, although SJM owns their licenses [27].

MGM China Holdings, a subsidiary of US casino company MGM Resorts International (hereinafter “MGM China”), started its casino business in the Macau Peninsula in December 2007. MGM China, a sub-concessionaire of the Macau casino market, acquired a sub-license from SJM, the primary concessionaire. The corporate value of MGM China, listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX) in June 2011, is estimated at USD 6.33753 billion (about KRW 7.06 trillion) as of 31 December 2018 [28,29]. MGM China owns and operates MGM Macau in Macau Peninsula, and opened a new IR, MGM Cotai, in Cotai Region in February 2018 [30].

In Singapore, there are two integrated resorts: Marina Bay Sands and Genting Singapore (Resorts World Sentosa).

The Marina Bay Sands (MBS) is located in Marina Bay, the central region of Singapore, and it is owned by the US IR operator Las Vegas Sands. Unlike Macau IR, which is operated by Sands China, a separate joint venture, MBS is operated directly by Las Vegas Sands through its local subsidiary. Sheldon G. Adelson, the founder, acts as the chairman of Las Vegas Sands, and George Tanasijevich has been acting as the president and CEO of MBS since July 2011. Built on a total area of 581,400 m², MBS is composed of casinos, hotels, Sands EXPO and Convention Centre, which are MICE (Meeting, Incentives, Convention, Exhibition) facilities, and the luxury shopping mall The Shoppers at Marina Bay Sands [31,32,33]. In 2018, MBS’s total net revenue was USD 3.069 billion, a 2.1% decrease from 2017 [31,32,33].

Genting Singapore was established in 1984 and entered the Singapore IR market in January 2010 with the opening of Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) on Sentosa Island. The corporate value of Genting Singapore, listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange (SGX) in December 2015, is estimated at USD 8.6264 billion (about KRW 9.6098 trillion) as of 31 December 2018 [34,35,36,37]. Built on a total area of 490,000 m², RWS consists of eight hotels, including luxury villas, theme park Universal Studio Singapore, casinos, a water attraction complex Marine Life Park, and Resorts World Theater, with 1600 seats [34,35,36,37].

In Philippines, there are three integrated resorts: Bloomberry Resorts, Travellers International Hotel Group, and Melco Resorts & Entertainment (Philippines).

Bloomberry Resorts opened Solaire Resort & Casino in March 2013 after acquiring an IR business license for Entertainment City, a Philippine IR complex, in 2009. Solaire Resorts & Casino is equipped with an 800-room hotel, two casinos, a multi-purpose venue with 1760 seats, and a number of restaurants and shopping malls [38].

The Travellers International Hotel Group (hereinafter “Travellers International”) is a joint venture established by the Philippine Alliance Global Group and Genting Hong Kong, a subsidiary of the Genting Group, and it operates Resorts World Manila (hereinafter “RWM”), the first IR in the Philippines. In addition to the casino, RWM owns such auxiliary facilities as eight hotels, a multi-purpose venue with 1500 seats, and a number of shopping malls and restaurants [39,40].

Melco Resorts & Entertainment (Philippines) (hereafter “Melco Resorts Philippines”) established and is operating City of Dreams Manila, the third IR in Entertainment City. City of Dreams Manila in the Entertainment City was built on a total area of 6.2 ha and was officially opened in February 2015 after the pilot operation in December 2104 [19,20,21,22,41].

In Las Vegas, there are four representative IRs: MGM Resorts International, Caesars Entertainment, Wynn Resorts, and Las Vegas Sands.

MGM Resorts International first started its casino business in 1969 and became the largest IR company in the United States with the opening of a casino in Atlantic City, along with the establishment of MGM Grand Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. MGM Resorts operates nine IRs, including Bellagio, MGM Grand Las Vegas, and Mandalay Bay, on the Las Vegas Strip [42,43,44].

Caesars Entertainment is the world’s oldest casino company, which has grown into a world-renowned IR company since it started its business in 1937 with the opening of Harrah’s Bingo Club in Reno, Nevada. Caesars Entertainment operates 10 casinos on the Las Vegas Strip, including Caesars Palace and The LINQ Hotel & Casino [45,46,47].

Founded in 2002, Wynn Resort established a subsidiary in 2006 and entered Macau market, and now it operates one IR in Las Vegas and two IRs in Macau. Wynn Resorts owns and operates Wynn Las Vegas, a luxury concept IR, on the Las Vegas Strip [48].

Led by the Chairman Sheldon Adelson, Las Vegas Sands is the world’s largest casino operator, with nine IRs currently operating in Las Vegas, Pennsylvania, Macau, and Singapore. Las Vegas Sands currently operates the Venetian Las Vegas IR and Sands Expo Center, a convention center, in Las Vegas [33,35].

The first integrated resort in other countries was NagaCorp in Cambodia, which operates Naga World, the largest IR in Cambodia and the only IR in Phnom Penh, and Naga2. Naga World, which became a true IR through its first completion in 2003, expanded its facilities three times from 2007 to 2009, and it operates a hotel with 755 rooms and a casino built on a total area of 20,918 m² as of the end of 2018. Naga2, which was newly opened in November 2017, is connected to Naga World through the 9832 m² Naga City Walk, which was completed in 2016, and it owns a casino built on an area of 28,666 m² and a hotel with 903 rooms [49].

The second one is Genting Malaysia, Malaysia’s exclusive casino operator, which operates Resorts World Genting in Pahang in Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia. Resorts World Genting, which started operation with 60 rooms in 1969, has been expanding its facilities every year, and now operates seven hotels with about 10,500 rooms and casinos, as of the end of December 2018 [50,51,52].

The third one is Summit Ascent Holdings, established in 1993. It is an IR operator based in Hong Kong and it entered the Russian market in October 2015 with the opening of Tigre de Cristal in the Primorsky Integrated Entertainment Zone, an IR complex near Vladivostok [53]. Tigre de Cristal, which operates 24 h, targeting customers in Northeast Asia, including Russia and China, consists of a hotel with 121 rooms built on a total area of 36,000 m² and a casino built on a total area of 8000 m² [54].

2.2. Review of Previous Studies

Kim Mi-joo, Lee Myung-soon, and Kim Young-mi [55] verified the difference in local residents’ perception of casino development according to their characteristics and suggested practical methods for casino development. They analyzed the influential factors, such as age and residence period, using demographic criteria, and also identified the influential factor of household income. They emphasized the importance of local support to derive a positive opinion on casino development from local people. However, there was a limitation in their studies because they targeted only local residents, and did not reflect the opinions of casino operators, employees, and developers.

Lee Ji-hoon and Kim Yun-jeong [56] analyzed the effect of “local attachment” on the perception of tourism development, and argued that there will be high concern about the conflicts among local residents if the local attachment for local development does not show unconditional support for tourism development and the development cases of other regions produce negative results. Local attachment and collective efficacy for tourism development underscore the need for active cooperation from the local region and local residents. However, there was a limitation in their studies because they conducted study only tourism experience villages (12 villages, including fishing experience villages) in Jeju Island, which were not revitalized in tourism.

Jeong Yu-ri, Jeong Sung-moon, and Kang Shin-gyum [57] analyzed the effect of local attachment of the residents in urban tourism sites on tourism development, targeting the residents in Yanglim-dong and Gwangju Modern History Culture Village, and found that local attachment had an effect on local residents’ perception of tourism development. However, there was a limitation in their studies because they did not use the data on various residential types and other various data collection methods in consideration of the characteristics of urban regions.

Han Seung-hoon and Shin Dong-ju [58] conducted a study on the structural relationships between local attachment, development satisfaction, and development support, targeting the residents of southern Gangwon province. Their study results showed that dependency and social unity have a significant effect on development satisfaction and that development satisfaction also has a significant and positive effect on development support. It was expected that these previous studies would provide sociopsychological meaning in understanding the residents of the study areas who plan and promote tourism development in the future, but the study area was limited only to the southern region of Gangwon Province, with strong regional characteristics, which is considered a limitation of their studies.

Jang Yoon-hee and Yoon Sun-young [59] conducted a study on the perception and attitudes of local residents toward the development of the Suwon Convention Center, targeting the residents of Gwanggyo New Town. The results of their studies showed that the social and cultural impact was the highest and the economic impact was also very high among the perceptions of local residents on the development of the convention center. The study results also showed that environmental impact was the lowest, and socio-cultural and economic impacts had a significant influence on the attitude of local residents toward development. The limitation of their studies was that various variables such as economic power, occupation, income, and knowledge level of the local residents were omitted, weakening the verification of social exchange theory.

Han Jin-sung, Moon Hyun-chul, and Yoon Ji-hwan [60] studied the moderating effect of local attachment in the relationship between the “tourism impact perception” and “tourism development support intention” among local residents of Jeju Island. Their study results showed that the positive or negative perception of local residents of Jeju Island on the tourism development had a direct effect on their intention to support sustainable tourism development and that the local attachment had a moderating effect between the tourism impact and the intention to support sustainable development when the local attachment occurred during the process of pursuing specific goals or activities. However, there was a special limitation in their studies because they targeted only the residents of a few concentrated residential areas, not the residents of Seogwipo or coastal areas, where actual tourism development is taking place.

Jeong Seung-hoon [61], in his study on the perception of tourism impact and support of sustainable tourism development of the local residents according to the listing of the Jeju Batdam Agricultural System on the world’s important agricultural heritage, found that the residents who were born in that particular region had high environmentally and socially negative perception and that the villages where the tourism industry is partially activated had a higher perception and support. In addition, it was found that the local residents, who perceive that listing of the Batdam Agricultural System on world’s important agricultural heritage will positively contribute to the revitalization of the local economy and preservation of agricultural heritage, support sustainable tourism development. However, there was a limitation in this previous study because the research was limited to only four villages, without conducting in-depth interview with local residents.

Shin Dong-ju and Kang Yu-jin [62] studied the effect of local attachment on “tourism development impact perception”, benefits, and local support, targeting the local residents in the southern region of Gangwon Province. The study results showed that, first, the local attachment of the local residents had an effect on the positive aspects of tourism development impact perception but did not have an effect on negative aspect, and second, the local attachment had both positive and negative effects on economy. Third, the economic and environmental positiveness in tourism development impact perception had a positive effect on benefits, but the economic and environmental negativity had a negative effect on benefits. Fourth, the social impact had no effect on benefits. However, there was a limitation in their studies because they did not analyze the regional differences and did not use the quota sampling method.

Song Jae-ho and Ko Gye-sung [63] conducted a study on tourism development impact perception and support of the local residents in Changwon City. In their studies on tourism development of the entire Changwon City, they found that, first, for additional tourism development, local residents in the Changwon region aim for nature-friendly tourism development, but prefer a development type that combines culture and facilities. Second, the local residents in Jinhae region had the highest support for tourism development utilizing historical and cultural resources with geographical characteristics added. Third, the local residents in Masan region showed low demand for additional tourism development. Fourth, as a result of the multiple regression analysis on the effect of tourism development, the residents who thought that tourism development will increase tourism income, employment, and tourist exchange supported tourism development. The residents who thought that tourism development will lead to an improvement of local image, a change of the area into an environment-friendly area, the expansion of local public infrastructure, and the comfort of the local living environment, also supported tourism development. However, there was a limitation in this study because long-term and time-series research was not sufficiently conducted and it did not consider the regional differences in tourism destinations in integrated Changwon City.

Hong Seong-bum [64], in his study on the effect of tourism impact perception of local residents, policy fairness, and credibility about the casino development on regional acceptability, found that, first, among the negative impact perception and positive impact perception measured in cost and benefit, the positive impact perception determined the local acceptability of casino development, and the negative impact had an effect on local acceptability through policy credibility. Second, in the relationship between fairness perception and local acceptability in the tourism category, such as casino development, it was identified that the local residents’ perception of policy fairness was a major factor in determining the acceptance of policy, and the policy credibility had a significant effect on local acceptability. Fourth, the results of the analysis on the mediating effect of policy credibility in the relationship between casino development impact factors and local acceptability showed no mediating effect. However, there was a limitation in this study because the research was not conducted on integrated resorts but only on casinos, without considering different stages or issues in development projects.

This study can be differentiated from other studies because it analyzes the importance of local support in the planning or progress stage of the development of casino-based integrated resorts, which becomes increasingly important, by reflecting the standpoints of not only the licensing agencies and operators but also the local residents, unlike the previous studies, which analyzed the impact factors from the standpoints of only the local residents in the general development projects and tourism development projects, such as casinos and resorts.

Through the analysis of the importance of local support factors from the standpoints of both the expert group and the local residents group, we will be able to identify the difference in importance of local support factors between these two groups. This study will provide a great reference in making a decision about key factors when developing an integrated resort development plan. In addition, this study will be able to provide implications on how to operate integrated resorts for sustainable support of the locals, even after the completion of the integrated resort development projects.

3. Analysis Framework

3.1. AHP Decision-Making Model

Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) is a hierarchical decision-making method that supports the systematic evaluation of alternatives with multiple decision-making goals or evaluation criteria and different preferences for individual evaluation criteria. Developed by Thomas L. Saaty at the University of Pennsylvania in the early 1970s, it has been widely used for qualitative multi-standard decision-making [65]. This is a structured decision-making method that enables the derivation of decision-making in the group with multiple stakeholders and participants [66]. It is an efficient decision-making method that can derive priorities through 1:1 pair-wise comparison of various elements related to the decision making. Through this process, the consistency of decision-making participants can be automatically verified, making reasonable and scientific decision-making possible [67].

The AHP analytical method is used in many areas of public decision-making, including strategic planning, law enactment and revision, national crisis issues, military-related decisions, various national project decisions, personnel-related decisions for key positions, and decisions for labor-management agreements. It is also used for the resolution of stakeholder interests and resolution of conflicts on social issues. Furthermore, it can be used to decide whether or not to proceed with various projects, such as budget-related issues and investments, as well as to decide on proposals and manage human resources [68].

The AHP method has a theoretical background based on four basic principles. First, decision makers must be able to compare two paired evaluation factors within the same hierarchy and express the strength of their preferences. Second, they must be able to express the importance according to a bounded scale within a limited range. Third, factors in one hierarchy must be dependent on factors in an adjacent higher hierarchy. Fourth, it is assumed that matters concerning the purpose of decision-making are completely included in the hierarchy [68].

The analysis process of the AHP consists of four steps. In the first step, a decision hierarchy is established for each given decision-making issue according to related decision-making attributes. These factors are arranged in more detail as they are in the lower hierarchy, and the lowest hierarchy consists of several decision-making alternatives. For paired comparison, a maximum of 7 ± 2 types of comparison targets included in each class are proposed. In the second step, decision-making data are collected through paired comparison between decision-making factors. In this step, the importance of the immediate lower hierarchy is assigned to achieve the goals of the factors in the higher hierarchy [69]. In the third step, the relative weight is estimated. In this process, the consistency index and the consistency ratio can be obtained to verify the consistency of the survey respondents. This can be verified by the relationship formula proposed by Saaty (1980), as follows:

$$\mathrm{Consistency}\mathrm{Index}\left(\mathrm{CI}\right)=(\mathsf{\lambda }\max -\mathrm{n})/(\mathrm{n}-1);$$

Consistency Ratio (CR) = (CI/RI) × 100%.

Consistency check or consistency index (CI) is a measure showing how consistent the person doing the pairwise comparison is. For example, A is more important than B, B is more important than C, but C is more important than A. In this case, there is no consistency. The consistency index can verify that there is a contradiction in the answers. Higher values mean that the respondent did not answer correctly, or that the respondent could not be trusted. In general, the higher expertise the respondent has, the lower the value. max is called the principal Eigenvalue, and if you multiply an n × n square matrix [A] by n × 1 weight matrix [W], you can get a new n × 1 weighted vector matrix [Y], Using this weighted vector matrix Y1, …, Yn and weights W1, …, Wn, you can get λmax. This can be expressed as the following formula:

[A] × [W] = [Y],

and,

(Y1/W1 + Y2/W2 + … + Yn/Wn)/n = λmax.

RI refers to the random index, which is a value obtained by calculating an average consistency index by an inverse matrix, and it indicates the permissible limit. CR refers to the consistency ratio, expressed in percentage (%). The consistency index is considered consistent when the CI value is 0.1 or less, and is reflected in the decision-making. In the fourth step, various alternatives are synthesized to obtain their relative weights. The ranking of the importance of the factors in the top hierarchy and the ranking of the importance of the factors in each lower hierarchy can be obtained.

3.2. Research Method

To analyze the importance of local support factors on integrated resort development, the following processes were conducted.

First, the primary selection of factors that have an effect on local support was made. To this end, the factors used in previous studies were extracted, and among them, the factors used in many studies were selected first, and the characteristics of the variables were combined and integrated into the higher factors (

Table 1. Local support factors in previous studies.

Category	Sub-Factors	Ko D.H., Kim H.J. (2003)	Lee H.S. (2004)	Lee E.S. (2010)	Huh S.R. (2010)	Jeong S.H. (2014)	Hong S.B. (2017)	Song J.H, Ko K.S. (2014)	Han J.S, Moon H.C., Yoon J.H (2018)
Economy	Increase in jobs		●	●		●	●	●	●
	Real estate price			●				●
	Revitalization of local economy	●		●		●	●	●
	Income of residents	●	●			●	●	●	●
Environment	Landscape	●	●	●
	Transportation infrastructure		●						●
	Infrastructure		●		●		●	●	●
	Maintenance	●	●	●	●		●		●
Socio-culture	Improvement of local image	●		●	●		●	●
	Improvement of cultural life	●		●	●	●
	Diversification of leisure activities	●		●	●	●			●
	Improvement of educational environment			●				●

).

Second, a focus group interview (FGI) was conducted to fix the primary factors. A total of five experts were interviewed to select a group of experts. The group of experts was composed of two Japanese integrated resort experts and three Korean integrated resort experts. The Japanese integrated resort experts currently act as the executives of game consoles and pachinko companies in Japan, and they are experts in planning casino introduction and integrated resort development projects in Japan. The Korean integrated resort experts were executives and team leaders of the company that operates an integrated resort in Yeongjongdo Island (

Table 2. Focus group composition.

Group	Company	Experience
Korean developer/operator (three people)	P company	25 years
	P company	23 years
	P company	18 years
Japanese developer/operator (two people)	S company	30 years
	S company	24 years
Total	five people

).

Third, for the selection of final factors, the upper-concept factors were arranged first to fit the AHP, and then the lower-concept factors were arranged to form a stepwise model.

Fourth, the analysis of the importance of each factor was conducted using the AHP method. After creating the questionnaire items, the survey was conducted separately, targeting the academic society, licensing agencies, multi-resort operators, and local residents.

Finally, the analysis was conducted based on the collected survey sheets that met the permissible standard of the consistency index.

3.3. Index Selection

3.3.1. Index Selection through Previous Studies

The factors affecting local support were organized and classified through previous studies. The factors can be largely divided into economic, environmental, and socio-cultural category. A total of 12 sub-factors, 4 for each major category, were selected.

3.3.2. Focus Group Interview (FGI)

A focus group interview was conducted with 12 sub-factors, and five experts who developed and are operating integrated resort were selected for the interview. Not only domestic experts but also Japanese experts who want to develop casino-based integrated resorts in the near future participated in the interview and gave us various and fresh opinions.

3.3.3. Index Selection for Final Analysis

While carrying the FGI, there were no major differences in the opinion of the experts for the economic, environmental, and socio-cultural factors. However, the experts expressed their opinion that revitalization of surrounding area, not the improvement of educational environment, should be added to the socio-cultural category, and their opinions were adopted as majority opinion. In addition, many experts expressed the opinion that sustainability is an important factor affecting the local support of development projects, which was adopted. Three sub-factors, such as revitalization of the local community, revitalization of the government’s tourism policy, and inflow of outside population, were additionally adopted. In order to ensure the consistency of the survey from the stage of index selection, sub-factors were managed so that their number did not exceed four for each category factor, and only the majority opinions were used in the opinion gathering. There were other opinions, such as “redistribution of development profits to the region”, “service in local regions”, and “return of profits to society”, but they were excluded as minority opinions. Because this study intended to analyze the importance of local support factors for the development of integrated resorts, negative factors in previous studies were excluded and additional factors were finally selected among positive factors.

As a result, four additional sub-factors were finally selected by adding the sustainability category, selected through FGI, to the economic, environmental, and socio-cultural categories. In the economy category, sub-factors such as “increase in jobs”, “increase in real estate prices”, “revitalization of local economy”, and “increase in income of local residents” were selected, and in the environment category, items such as “improvement of landscape”, “improvement of transportation infrastructure”, “improvement of infrastructure”, and “improvement of public facility maintenance” were selected. In the socio-cultural category, items such as “improvement of local image”, “improvement of social life level”, “diversification of leisure activities”, and “improvement of educational environment” were selected. In the sustainability category, items such as “revitalization of local community”, “revitalization of the government’s tourism policy”, and “inflow of outside population” were selected (

Table 3. Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) model related to local support.

Local support for integrated resort development	Economy category	Increase in jobs	Creation of local jobs through integrated resort development
		Revitalization of local economy	Revitalization of economy in connection with integrated resorts in local region
		Increase in real estate prices	Increase in land and housing prices through integrated resort development
		Revitalization of investment from outside	Revitalization of investment in tourism by outside investors
	Environment category	Improvement of transportation infrastructure	Improvement of transportation infrastructure, such as the expansion of traffic facilities and road width
		Improvement of infrastructure	Improvement of infrastructure, such as district heating, gas, waste treatment facilities
		Improvement of facility maintenance	Improvement of the number of maintenance and quality of existing facilities in the local region
		Improvement of landscape	Improvement of the landscape of IR development areas and surrounding areas
	Socio-culture category	Improvement of local image	Formation of landmark style local image as a tourism area
		Revitalization of surrounding areas	Revitalization of neighboring areas through integrated resorts
		Increase in leisure activities	Expansion of the opportunity for leisure activities following the revitalization of local region
		Diversification of cultural events	Holding various kinds of art events, concerts, and entertainment events
	Sustainability category	Revitalization of local community	Consistent revitalization of local communities and exchanges among local residents
		Revitalization of tourism policy	Government’s consistent improvement and support of tourism policy
		Inflow of outside population	Continuous inflow of outside population

).

4. Analysis of Importance of Local Support Factors

4.1. Questionnaire Survey and Data Collection

The questionnaire was organized into major categories and sub-categories based on the factors decided in the focus group interview, and the decision-making hierarchy was presented to survey respondents to show that the purpose of the survey was to evaluate the comparative importance of factors. The survey respondents consisted of academia, licensing agencies, integrated resort operators, and local residents, and we tried to identify the differences in their views and opinions. A total of 70 survey sheets were distributed and 60 sheets were collected, with a collection rate of 85.7%. Of the collected sheets, we identified 50 valid sheets that met the permissible standard of the consistency index. The valid questionnaire sheets accounted for 83.3% of collected sheets (

Table 4. Questionnaire sheet collection results.

Division	Academia	Operators	Licensing Agencies	Local Residents	Total
Distributed	7	15	22	26	70
Collected	5	15	17	23	60
Valid	5	10	15	20	50
Percentage (%)	-	-	-	-	83.3

).

By conducting a group interview, the first step, we derived factors from previous studies’ items and reflected them in this study. We also derived three factors: “revitalization of local community”, “revitalization of government’s tourism policy”, and “inflow of outside population” in the sustainability category.

The questionnaire items consisted of seven-point scales and the consistency of each questionnaire was examined before deriving the results after coding—the consistency was in the range of 1–5%. Therefore, less than 10% of the reliability reference value was confirmed.

4.2. Results of Importance Analysis

The analysis of local support factors on the development of integrated resort was conducted, targeting academia, operators, licensing agencies, and local residents. A comprehensive analysis was also conducted to derive the differences in their opinions. The results of the analysis are shown in

Table 5. Ranking of the importance of factors in each category.

Category (Importance)	Factors	Ranking (Total Ranking)				Figure
		Academia	Operators	Licensing Agencies	Local Residents
Economy (0.186)	Jobs	4(15)	4(15)	4(13)	4(15)
	Revitalization of economy	3(12)	3(14)	3(12)	3(14)
	Increase in real estate prices	1(5)	1(10)	1(4)	2(11)
	Revitalization of investment	2(11)	2(12)	2(6)	1(5)
Environment (0.273)	Transportation	4(9)	4(9)	4(15)	4(12)
	Infrastructure	3(7)	3(8)	3(14)	2(7)
	Maintenance	2(2)	1(1)	1(5)	1(3)
	Landscape	1(1)	2(2)	2(10)	3(8)
Socio-culture (0.273)	Image	4(14)	4(13)	3(9)	2(9)
	Revitalization of tourism	3(10)	3(7)	4(11)	1(6)
	Recreation	2(8)	1(4)	1(1)	3(10)
	Cultural events	1(6)	2(5)	2(2)	4(13)
Sustainability (0.268)	Revitalization of society	3(13)	3(11)	3(8)	3(4)
	Revitalization of policy	1(3)	1(3)	2(7)	2(2)
	Inflow of population	1(3)	2(6)	1(3)	1(1)

.

Judging from the importance from the standpoints of experts and local residents, the environment and socio-culture were the most important, followed by sustainability and economy.

Among the sub-factors of economy, academia showed importance in the order of increase in real estate prices, revitalization of outside investment, revitalization of local economy, and job creation. For operators, the importance was placed in the order of increase in real estate prices, revitalization of outside investment, revitalization of local economy, and job creation, and for licensing agencies, the importance was placed in the order of increase in real estate prices, revitalization of outside investment, revitalization of local economy, and job creation. For local residents, the importance was placed in the order of revitalization of outside investment, increase in real estate prices, revitalization of local economy, and job creation.

Among the sub-factors of environment, academia showed importance in the order of landscape, public facility maintenance, infrastructure, and transportation infrastructure. For operators, the importance was placed in the order of public facility maintenance, landscape, infrastructure, and transportation infrastructure. For licensing agencies, the importance was placed in the order of public facility maintenance, landscape, infrastructure, and transportation infrastructure. For local residents, the importance was placed in the order of public facility maintenance, infrastructure, landscape, and transportation infrastructure.

Among the sub-factors of socio-culture, academia showed importance in the order of diversification of cultural events, expansion of leisure activity opportunities, revitalization of tourism in surrounding areas, and improvement of local image. For operators, the importance was placed in the order of expansion of leisure activity opportunities, diversification of cultural events, revitalization of tourism in surrounding areas, and improvement of local image. For licensing agencies, the importance was placed in the order of expansion of leisure activity opportunities, diversification of cultural events, improvement of local image, and revitalization of tourism in surrounding areas. For local residents, the importance was placed in the order of revitalization of tourism in surrounding areas, improvement of local image, expansion of leisure activity opportunities, and diversification of cultural events.

Lastly, among the sub-factors of sustainability, academia showed importance in the order of revitalization of tourism policy, inflow of outside population, and revitalization of local community. For operators, the importance was placed in the order of revitalization of tourism policy, inflow of outside population, and revitalization of local community. For licensing agencies, the importance was placed in the order of inflow of outside population, revitalization of tourism policy, and revitalization of local community. For local residents, the importance was placed in the order of inflow of outside population, revitalization of tourism policy, and revitalization of local community.

4.3. Results of Comprehensive Analysis

The ranking of the importance of major category factors is shown in

Table 6. Importance of major category factors.

Ranking	Category	Academia	Operators	Licensing Agencies	Local Residents
1	Economy	0.188	0.092	0.242	0.200
2	Environment	0.396	0.408	0.185	0.251
3	Socio-culture	0.220	0.278	0.340	0.224
4	Sustainability	0.197	0.223	0.234	0.325

below. The academia and operators considered the environment as the most important factor, and licensing agencies considered the socio-culture as the most important factor. Local residents considered the sustainability as the most important factor.

Among a total of 15 sub-factors, the top 5 factors were comparatively important factors from the standpoint of the expert group and local residents. Therefore, the analysis results can be summarized as follows.

The academia placed the importance in the order of landscape, maintenance of public facilities, revitalization of government’s tourism policy, and population inflow. The operators placed the importance in the order of maintenance of public facilities, landscape, revitalization of government’s tourism policy, expansion of leisure activities, and diversification of cultural events. The licensing agencies placed the importance in the order of expansion of opportunities for leisure activity, diversification of cultural events, inflow of outside population, increase in real estate prices, and maintenance of public facilities. The local residents place the importance in the order of inflow of outside population, revitalization of government’s tourism policy, maintenance of public facilities, revitalization of local community, and revitalization of outside investment (

Table 7. Analysis results.

Major Category	Sub-Factors	Academia		Operators		Licensing Agencies		Local Residents
		Importance	Ranking	Importance	Ranking	Importance	Ranking	Importance	Ranking
Economy	Jobs	0.026	15	0.009	15	0.037	13	0.038	15
	Revitalization of economy	0.041	12	0.021	14	0.038	12	0.045	14
	Increase in real estate prices	0.079	5	0.033	10	0.090	4	0.047	11
	Revitalization of investment	0.041	11	0.029	12	0.076	6	0.069	5
Environment	Transportation	0.061	9	0.052	9	0.026	15	0.047	12
	Infrastructure	0.069	7	0.060	8	0.027	14	0.064	7
	Maintenance	0.110	2	0.155	1	0.081	5	0.081	3
	Landscape	0.156	1	0.141	2	0.051	10	0.059	8
Socio-culture	Image	0.027	14	0.028	13	0.053	9	0.058	9
	Revitalization of tourism	0.053	10	0.069	7	0.048	11	0.066	6
	Leisure activities	0.063	8	0.104	4	0.123	1	0.053	10
	Cultural events	0.077	6	0.077	5	0.115	2	0.046	13
Sustainability	Revitalization of society	0.033	13	0.030	11	0.062	8	0.076	4
	Revitalization of policies	0.082	3	0.120	3	0.065	7	0.111	2
	Population inflow	0.082	3	0.073	6	0.106	3	0.138	1

).

To sum up, expert groups, such as academia, operators, and licensing agencies, considered the environment and socio-culture as the important factors, while local residents considered the sustainability as the most important factor. On the contrary, the economy did not have much impact on local support compared to other factors.

The implication of this analysis is that the so-called expert groups considered the surrounding environment and socio-cultural factors important while the local residents considered the sustainability more important than other factors in developing integrated resorts.

5. Conclusions

This purpose of this study was to analyze the importance of local support factors in the establishment and progress of integrated resort development plans and in the operation stage after completion of the resort, and to provide basic data for the direction of development and operation plans for policymakers and project operators.

Casino-based integrated resorts started in the United States and settled in Asia, and Macau has already departed the activation stage and surpassed Las Vegas in revenue. In Northeast Asia, Korea is now in the beginning stage, and there will be more and more discussions related to this study in the future.

The results of this study can be summarized as follows.

First, the importance of local support factors was different depending on the standpoint of expert groups, such as integrated resort development planners and operators, and local residents. The expert groups considered environmental and socio-cultural aspects important, while the local residents considered the sustainability of the project as the most important, given the impact of the project on the local region in the process of its operation for decades after the establishment, progress, and completion of the development plan.

Second, among the sub-factors, the improvement of the surrounding environment and revitalization of the local community showed higher importance to some extent, because the integrated resorts are highly likely to be built at the outskirts of a city, not the downtown areas, due to the nature of the integrated resorts.

The implications of this study are as follows. The policymakers and project implementers who wish to proceed with integrated resort development projects should place more importance on environmental aspects and sustainability, rather than on economic aspects. Many people already know that the simple expectation for an increase in real estate prices or revitalization of the economy will be faced with much gap between the advertisement effect through the media and the actual reality. Therefore, additional and lasting effects are more important than direct effects of the development, which is interesting. This may be interpreted that high-level needs, rather than simple needs, are increasing in Korean society in the process of its advancement.

We can also think from the perspective of sustainable development. When developing a casino-based integrated resort, everyone who participated in the survey did not believe that economic impacts, such as land price fluctuations, economic revitalization, and increase in jobs in the region, were the most important, but they considered that other items were more important. In this respect, the big proposition of sustainable development is very much important. Therefore, the establishment and progress of the development plan as well as the actual operation of integrated resorts need to be carried out in a big framework of sustainability.

It is hoped that this study will serve as an important objective indicator for the decision-making of policy makers who establish policies and make plans for the development of integrated resorts. The establishment of policies for development plan is greatly affected by local support, and if the opinions of local residents were different from the ones that were originally expected, there will be great difficulty not only in development process but also in operation process.

In particular, for the development of integrated resorts combined with casinos, the integrated resort operators need to make continuous efforts to return the profit to the local community due to the negative recognition of casinos in the Korean society.

Furthermore, in establishing the development plan and estimating total project cost, the public or private business operators who carry out the IR development project will be able to establish concepts based on the results of this study.

This study derived the local support factors in the development of the integrated resorts and analyzed their importance. Currently, there are only three development projects in Yeongjongdo Island that fit the concept of integrated resorts, and the success of the integrated resorts in Yeongjongdo Island will have a positive effect on other regions where integrated resorts are planned. Recent cases of conflicts of opinion between Kangwon Land and local residents are not completely the same as the integrated resorts with casinos exclusively for foreigners. However, it was identified that if there is a sharp conflict between the opinions of local residents and IR operators, it will have a great impact on IR business.

Therefore, it is necessary for the policymakers and project operators to think more about how to contribute to the local region and what sustainable policies they can implement in the local region, not just assessing their success in terms of revenue.

This study is about the development of integrated resorts in Korea, which are still in the beginning stage, so it is true that there is a regional limitation in this study because we were not able to conduct the study on various integrated resorts in foreign regions, such as Macau, the Philippines, and Las Vegas. If we carry out further research on the opinions of residents and experts in those foreign regions in consideration of their regional characteristics, we will be able to produce more abundant and diverse research results.