With due fanfare the world’s biggest casino has opened its doors in Macau. The Venetian Macao Resort Hotel, costing US$2.4 billion, is the largest single structure hotel in Asia and the second largest building in the world. The Venice themed property has 550,000 sq ft of gaming floor, larger than any other casino, with 870 table games and over 3,400 slot machines. The mega resort, it is claimed, will help Macau realise its future as a multi-day stay leisure and business destination for millions of people across the region.

Amongst the hyperbole and enthusiasm, the International Herald Tribune has a few words of caution for casino operators. They ask how quickly Macau can expand beyond the average visitor stay of just 1.26 days and suggest that some operators may be driven out of business if gambling business fails to grow as rapidly as new casino projects. Visitors will have to be persuaded that Macau is more than just gambling and non-gambling revenue, minimal at present, will have to become a much bigger percentage of revenue.

Sheldon G. Adelson, chairman and chief executive officer of Las Vegas Sands Corp, is certain that The Venetian Macau will be a success, even if it takes longer than the year Sands Macau took to return investment. "In this day and age its commonplace to throw around phrases like historic, groundbreaking, and revolutionary. But it is no overstatement to say that the opening of The Venetian Macao represents a massive paradigm shift for Macao and the future of tourism development in Asia."

The hotel has 3,000 all-suite guest rooms and with one million square feet of retail space, which is more than any shopping mall in Hong Kong, The Venetian Macao now becomes a major destination for the region's top shoppers. The 15,000-seat Venetian Arena is staging the Grand Opening tonight and in following weeks hosts NBA exhibition games and tennis matches. 1.2 million-square feet of meeting, convention and exhibition space includes the largest pillar-less ballroom in Asia and can provide catering for 15,000.

"All of the amazing offerings inside The Venetian make it not only the first fully integrated resort in Macao, they make the building the first-of- its kind anywhere in Asia," said William P. Weidner, president and chief operating officer of Las Vegas Sands. "The Venetian Macao is truly a destination within itself and its presence will help Macao realize its future as a multi-day stay leisure and business destination for millions of people across the region."

The Venetian Macao is the first project to open on the Cotai Strip, where the Macau government hopes that visitors can be induced to stay longer and spend more than gambling dollars. Big hotel chains will be opening hotels as well as gaming companies such as MGM Mirage and Melco Entertainment opening lavish casinos in due course. Much will depend on the success of The Venetian Macau and the stability of the financial markets. Wynn Macau has already scaled down its planned expansion of gaming floor and analysts expect to see an impact on the existing casino industry. To begin with, anyway, The Venetian Macau is likely to take market share from the other Macau operators rather than draw large numbers of new visitors to its casino resort. (E-08.28.07)

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