Inspire Casino Cuts Operating Losses by 100 Billion Won... Why Is It Launching a Large-Scale Internship Program?

Recruiting Over 100 Interns Until May 27
Rising Demand for Staff as Number of Foreign Guests Increases
Internship Aims to Provide Practical Experience for Aspiring Industry Professionals
Sales Growth and Reduced Losses...Loan Refinancing Re

As Inspire Entertainment Resort enters its third year since opening, there is growing interest in the background behind its decision to recruit interns in the triple digits for the first time since it began operations. The company had struggled with the burden of loans taken out to cover its initial investment costs and underperformed financially, resulting in its management rights passing to a private equity fund after just over a year—a process marked by trial and error. However, Inspire is now seen as having secured the momentum needed to stabilize its business. Main revenue sources such as the casino and hotel have improved, and the company has eased its financial burden through successful refinancing of over 1 trillion won. Some analysts see the current move as part of ongoing cost-efficiency measures.

Inspire Entertainment Resort. Courtesy of Inspire

According to industry sources on the 18th, Inspire is recruiting around 100 interns across three divisions—casino (gaming), hotel, and management support—through May 27. Since its official opening in March 2024, Inspire had previously filled staffing needs through hiring both experienced and new employees, but this marks its first large-scale internship program. A representative from Inspire explained, "The number of casino and hotel guests has been steadily increasing, leading to greater staffing demand. We are launching this internship program to connect students majoring in related fields and provide hands-on work experience to those wishing to pursue careers in these areas."

Inspire, in practice, has attracted tourists not only with its foreigner-only casino but also with its 15,000-seat arena dedicated to performances, bringing in both domestic and international artists. Since opening, the cumulative number of visitors to the integrated resort exceeded 10 million by last year. In April, demand from neighboring countries such as China, Japan, and Taiwan, as well as the United States, led to a 20% year-on-year increase in foreign visitors. The proportion of foreign guests staying at the hotel has remained at about 50%.

Inspire initially launched as the first leisure facility in Asia chosen by Mohegan, a U.S. operator that runs seven integrated resorts in North America. However, Mohegan's subsidiary failed to meet loan agreement conditions after borrowing $275 million (about 390 billion won) in February 2021 using its stake in the Korean subsidiary, MGE Korea, as collateral to raise investment funds. As a result, management rights were transferred to global private equity fund Bain Capital. The agreement required Inspire to achieve certain annual business targets, which it reportedly failed to meet. This change occurred about a year after the resort's full-scale operations began.

Due to the investment of $1.6 billion (about 2 trillion won) in the first phase alone—which involved constructing a hotel with 1,275 rooms across three towers and additional facilities—the company continued to post deficits until recently, but its core performance has been improving. For the last fiscal year (October 1, 2024–September 30, 2025), revenue reached 416 billion won, nearly doubling year-on-year (up 89.6%), while operating losses fell to 46.1 billion won from 156.4 billion won in the previous year—a reduction of over 100 billion won. Notably, revenue from the foreigner-only casino reached 267.2 billion won, a 147.6% increase from the inaugural year.

In December of last year, Inspire converted a maturing project financing (PF) loan of 1.04 trillion won into a secured refinancing loan of 1.27 trillion won, including operating costs, resolving short-term repayment pressure. However, the two-year loan carries an annual interest rate ranging from 4% to as high as 11.25%, which is expected to remain a challenge for profitability due to the ongoing interest burden. Inspire’s interest expenses for the previous fiscal year were 120.7 billion won, up 24.8% from the year before.

An industry insider commented, "Early on, Inspire secured a workforce by hiring a large number of professionals from the same industry through career moves and other means. The large-scale internship program is aimed at reducing fixed labor costs and responding to staffing needs." In fact, Inspire's salary expenses in its first year of operations jumped more than six-fold to 90.9 billion won from 14.9 billion won the previous year, but in its second year, they increased by only 13.4% to 103.1 billion won.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.