Chairman Philip Chun of Paradise Group.

The Paradise Group, an operator of casinos in Korea, recently took over the Embassy Suites Hotel in Orlando, Florida, according to financial investment sources on Aug. 18.

Clearwater-based Paradise America LLC, the group’s U.S. unit, bought the 167-room, all-suite hotel in downtown Orlando, which opened in 2000, for $353.5 million from the Hilton Hotel chain.

They said the group took over the U.S. hotel by paying half of the cost in cash and the other half in borrowings from a bank. The hotel built on a total space of 922 square meters, is located only 25 minutes from the Orlando Airport in Florida.

Officials of the group said the Embassy Suits Hotel is one of the major hotels in Orlando, a thriving resort town in Florida, surrounded by such leisure and resort facilities as Universal Studios, Disney World and large parks with lakes, indicating that the hotel has been doing consistent business every year.

The hotel posted $94 million in revenue and $3.1 million in operating profit, they said, adding that the group wanted to set up a bridgehead for its overseas operation by taking over Embassy Suits.

Chairman Philip Chun set up a fund amounting to 1 trillion won for investment in multi-resort and set out to build a bridgehead for the group’s hotel business overseas, the sources said. The group sold the Safari Park Hotel in Nairobi, Kenya, to operate its overseas hotel business in the U.S. from Africa. The group operates Paradise Hotel Busan. The Embassy Suites Hotel is the largest overseas investment made by Chairman Chun since he took over the helm of the group in 2005.

Industry sources said Chairman Chun will expand the group’s overseas operation through close contacts with Segasami Holdings of Japan and SJM of Macao. He ultimately plans to expand the group’s business portfolio from casinos to hotels and multiple resorts, which is the same strategy employed by Chairman Sheldon Adelson of Sands Group.

Paradise is moving beyond Korea and into the world. Under the Vision 2020 plan declared in 2012, Paradise is exploring a new development for a company that provides customers with special value and experience. Based on its vast know-how accumulated in the tourism industry for the past 40 years, the company will build Paradise City, the first Korean-style IR (Integrated Resort), on Yeongjong Island by 2017. With a first-class hotel, Korea's biggest casino, a multi-purpose performance hall, shopping malls, and a restaurant of star chefs, Paradise City will become the center of a creative industry that encompasses leisure, tourism, culture, and art and leads the tourism spurred by K-Pop and K-Culture.

Paradise is a leader in the tourism industry in Korea. Paradise has steadily grown since 1972 with devotion, consideration, and people-oriented corporate management characterized by sharing. As a pioneer in the tourism industry including hotels, gaming, travel, and leisure, Paradise has developed the tourism industry of Korea and facilitated the growth of the national economy by creating jobs. As a creative company, Paradise is expanding into manufacturing and construction. Paradise is committed to creating a happy future for all of society. The company established the Kaywon School of Arts, the Kaywon High School of Arts, and the Kaywon School of Art & Design to foster talents in art and culture who will open the future of Korea. 

The company also runs the Paradise Culture Foundation to support people in art and culture as well as to promote art and culture at home and abroad; and operates the Paradise Welfare Foundation to support education and treatment of handicapped children and improve their welfare. With the understanding that the dreams of children are the very future of Paradise, it strives to be a company with a warm heart that fulfills its social responsibility, the company said.

A view of the Embassy Suites Hotel in Orlando, Florida, the U.S. that Paradise Group bought recently.(Photos: Paradise Group)