link Venetian aims to make Macau resort city By SYLVIA HUI, Associated Press Writer Tue Aug 28, 11:30 AM ET MACAU - With the crash of a champagne bottle against a gondola, Macau's Venetian casino opened Tuesday, dwarfing anything in Las Vegas and big enough, its operators say, to shift the magnetic north of the gambling world to this small city in southern China. ADVERTISEMENT American billionaire Sheldon Adelson and his wife Miriam inaugurated the $2.4 billion Venetian Macao Resort Hotel on Cotai by smashing a bottle of champagne against a gondola, which will float down one of three indoor canals, compared with only one at the Venetian in Las Vegas. Casinos like the Wynn and Adelson's Sands have led this small city in southern China past the Las Vegas Strip as the world's most lucrative gambling center. Las Vegas Sands Corp. Chairman Adelson wants to take it a step further with the 10.5 million square foot Venetian. Hundreds of visitor streamed under the golden dome just inside the entrance Tuesday, treading on thick champagne colored carpet and taking in the fresco paintings on the wall. Adelson hopes the complex will transform Macau from a gambling pit stop for Chinese tourists to a vacation and business convention destination, where visitors shop, watch shows — and roll the dice. "Today is the beginning of what has been a dream of mine for some time — to reproduce the capital of entertainment in Asia for Asians," Adelson said Tuesday at a news conference. Macau's casinos are currently scattered across the territory, a peninsula connected to mainland China and two outlying islands by a reclaimed strip of land called Cotai. Adelson said his Venetian Macao Resort Hotel on Cotai is the cornerstone of what will become a concentrated resort area he calls the Cotai Strip. Las Vegas Sands claims the 10.5 million square foot Venetian — twice the size of the Las Vegas original — is the largest building in Asia and the second largest in the world. Boeing Co. claims it has the world's largest building — a plant in Washington state. The Venetian boasts what it claims to be the world's largest gaming space of 550,000 square feet, housing 3,400 slot machines — with room to expand to 6,000 — and more than 800 gambling tables. It has 3,000 rooms, a 15,000-seat sports arena, retail space for 350 stores, 1.2 million square feet of convention space, fine dining and a Cirque du Soleil-produced show. Its decor is Venice inspired — with a Chinese touch. Chinese-style sampans as well as gondolas will sail down canals. The resort also features a replica of Venice's St. Mark's Square. Adelson also plans to open more hotels under brands such as Four Seasons, Sheraton and St. Regis. In all, his Las Vegas Sands Corp., which also runs the Sands Macao on the Macau peninsula, plans to invest up to $12 billion and build 20,000 hotel rooms on the Cotai Strip by 2010. Some analysts say Adelson is smart in trying to lure new tourists to Macau. The convention business — a specialty of the Las Vegas Sands — is a lucrative one, they say. "The Venetian will get new customers who are right now not going to Macau at all," analyst Billy Ng at JPMorgan Securities said. Las Vegas Sands President William Weidner said 44 major conventions have already been scheduled at the Venetian over the next two years. He also said he expects the Venetian Macao to lengthen the average guest stay to three to four days, from 1.2 days in other Macau hotels. But it may take time to make Macau a major tourist destination. Rob Hart at Morgan Stanley said Macau will never be Las Vegas. "It's going to be slow transition ... it's never going to happen to the same extent," Hart said. They are building the MGM, and Playboy Masion casino there too right now!
It was only a matter of time. There's way too much money to be made off of the Chinese in gambling. And it's certainly a lot easier for them to go to Macau than Las Vegas.
I'm sure this just pissed off Dubai and now they will have to outdo this (Do they even have casinos in the UAE??)
Dubai is currently constructing the next tallest building in the world which is supposedly to finish construction sometime next year. Im sure they can outdo the Macau casinos over there but will never do so due to the gambling being illegal in UAE.
this is another building that is under construction in Dubai. Dubai to Build World’s First Rotating Skyscraper Whatever next for the Arabian city that has an artificial ski slope covered in snow even when the temperature hits 50C? Not to mention the world’s tallest building, some 7,000 metres (2,300 ft) high, rising above palm-shaped artificial archipelagos in the warm waters of the Persian Gulf. Oh, and a growth rate of 16% and a population where foreigners in need of “luxury” homes outnumber locals. Well, what about the world’s first rotating skyscraper? Commissioned by the Dubai Property Ring, a firm of UK-based developers, the 30-storey apartment block will use solar energy to power 20 electric motors that will rotate the tower through 360 degrees over the course of a week. “This will be a fair building,” says Nick Cooper, the British engineer working with MG Bennet and Associates of Rotherham, which will build the mechanism. “Everybody will have the same views for the same amount of time.” Mr Cooper is not referring to “fair” as in “funfair” - though the building is, it has to be said, the spectacular proposed centrepiece of the giant City of Arabia amusement park, complete with animatronic dinosaurs, which is due to open in 2009. Time Residences will comprise 200 apartments. Its 80,000-tonne bulk will rest on a series of more or less friction-free polymer bearings. “It moves very slowly,” says Mr Cooper. “It is not a theme park ride.” http://www.tallest-building-in-the-world.com/category/cities/dubai/
who cares? if you can't gamble or drink or party! what's the point? "hey we have lots of oil money so we can build really tall office buildings"
im getting married next year and am kinda planning where im gonna go for a honeymoon. Maccau is a place where i am really leaning towards going. That place seems awesome. i go to vegas twice a year and i hear this place is in direct competition with my favorite city in the world, must check it out.
I got to Vegas 3 times a year Tell me how it is. I'd love to know. I bet the Asian food is really good there too. I don't think its direct competition since all the big casinos there are owned by Vegas anyways. its an expansion of Vegas. Plus its not like Vegas is not doing too shabby with all the new places coming up: CityCenter Encore Palazzo Cosmopolitan Fountainbeau lets not forget that all the existing casinos in vegas are getting larger. they are doing a 2billion dollar expansion of Ceasars (its not like its not big enough).
