The World’s largest Casino opens it’s door
The world’s largest casino, the $2.4bn Venetian Resort, opens its doors in Macao today. At 945,000 square metres, Venetian is twice the size of the Las Vegas original and the largest building in Asia and the second largest in the world. As its name suggests, the Venetian is modelled on its Italian namesake, with a Chinese twist - traditional sampans are expected to join the gondolas plying the canals. The Venetian houses 7,000 slot machines, more than 1,150 gaming tables, as well as 3,000 rooms, a 15,000-seat sports arena, and 108,000 square metre of convention space. The Venetian is owned by Sheldon Adelson, the world’s sixth richest man, who says he aims to recoup the $2.4bn investment within five years. The Venetian is built on a strip of reclaimed land that investors hope will become an entertainment and gaming centre for wealthy visitors from China and across Asia. Fuelled by a surge in visitors from the Chinese mainland, the gambling boom has transformed Macau, surpassing Las Vegas as the world’s most lucrative gaming centre. With a raft of other casinos and resorts due to open in the former Portuguese colony, analysts says that Macao’s gaming revenue is forecast to double by 2010 to almost $14bn.
August 29, 2007