Macau will become world's No 1 Casino Place

07.05.2004, Lesen Sie hier den Bericht über «Macau will become world's No 1 Casino Place».

The architect behind the Las Vegas Sands casino in Macau believes the former Portuguese enclave will become the world's biggest tourist attraction by 2009.

I can see it happening in five years,'' Paul Steelman, the 48-year-old president of the Paul Steelman Design Group, said. Modern-day Las Vegas was really built about 11 years ago. When Atlantic City came about, everyone said that Las Vegas would be dead. But it didn't die because it had a head start. Macau has a head start in its own right so I would say that the real money is here. I believe that you'll see the remarkable creation of a city.''

By some estimates, the creation of 77,000 hotel rooms is on the drawing board for Macau, including 600 this year, 2,000 in 2005 and possibly 2,100 in 2006. This is not including the first phase of The Venetian mega-resort development, which has about 17,000 rooms. Macau has a current stock of roughly 8,900 hotel rooms versus about 43,000 in Hong Kong.

According to Steelman, who was born in Atlantic City, developer Sheldon Adelson's Las Vegas Sands casino will feature 51 suites. Galaxy Resort and Casino, which is building a nearby hotel, will add another 150 rooms when the property opens later this month or in early June. Rival Steve Wynn's casino is scheduled for a 2006 opening.

Although it is easy to assume that there will be a huge hotel room glut, consider that Macau attracted more than 1.11 million visitors in February, some 60 per cent of whom originated from China, according to government tourism figures. In 1962, when Macau's gambling tycoon, Stanley Ho, bought the casino monopoly through his Sociedade de Turismo e Diversoes de Macau, the annual number of visitors was only about 500,000.

One of the rules we follow in Las Vegas is to extend the day trips and that depends on the number of hotel rooms. In the same way, the convention business is only good if there are hotel rooms,'' Steelman said. But casinos don't rob gamblers from one another. They expand the market.''

Still, even with the opening of phase one of Las Vegas Sands, which is expected to include the Dumpling Night Market restaurant, a Las Vegas-style buffet as well as some gaming facilities, it is difficult not to patronise Ho's establishments. Other than his landmark Lisboa casino and hotel, Ho has stakes in Mandarin Oriental (Macau) and The Westin Resort, the passenger shipping joint venture with China Travel, Macau International Airport, Air Macau, the Macau Tower, Macau Golf and Country Club, Macau Horse Racing Company, Jai-Alai Shopping Centre and more.

It will be highly competitive and Stanley Ho does have a head start,'' Steelman said. But what we are trying to do with Macau is to create a group of casinos where gamblers can walk from one to the next as their luck changes. In this industry, one is not good.''

Über Glücksspiele in Macau - Gambling in Macao:

Macau (englisch Macao) liegt rund 50 Kilometer westlich von Hongkong und ist das Glücksspiel-Paradies in Asien.

Macau hat rund 40 Spielcasinos. Die grössten Casinos sind The Venetian Macao, MGM Macao, Wynn Macao, Galaxy StarWorld, City of Dreams, Sands Macao, Casino Lisboa.

Neben den riesigen und farbenfrohen Casinobuildings ist eines der Wahrzeichen der Macau Tower (Fernsehturm mit 338 Meter) mit atemberaubenden Ausblicken auf die Stadt.

Macau erstreckt sich über eine Fläche von 115.3 km2 und hat rund 620'000 Einwohner.

--- Ende Artikel / Pressemitteilung Macau will become world's No 1 Casino Place ---


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