The Venetian in China – the Italian luxury and Chinese mystique

 

Las Vegas Sands' second resort to open in Macau, called The Venetian, is the anchor of the much larger Cotai Strip mega-tourism development, an unparalleled master plan that is becoming the ''Las Vegas Strip'' of Asia. The Venetian Macao, opened on August 28, 2007, combines the glamour of Las Vegas with mystical Asian flair.  "Bringing the charm of Venice and the glamour of Las Vegas" to Macau, as its construction billboard declares, The Venetian Macao includes 3,000 luxury suites in a 32-story tower, creating the beauty of baroque Venice complete with canals, gondolas, singing gondoliers and other legendary Venetian icons.

 

At a time when economic and travel restrictions from mainland China are lifting the Venetian Macau resort has breathed new life in the casino tourism sector of Macau. Macau, which is within a 6-hour airline flight for half the world's population, is the only place gambling is legal in China. Business opportunities continue to expand in the area, the business market especially that of booming China, is expected to come along for the ride. According to Sheldon Adelson, the mastermind behind The Venetian Macau, "It's like a firecracker. They've lit the fuse, and it is ready to explode." Consequently, The Venetian Macau is not just another Macau luxury hotel.

 
 

The Venetian Macao boasts the world's biggest casino (some 600,000 square feet of gambling space, about five times the size of your state-of-the-art Vegas gaming floor), 3,000 hotel suites and acres of swimming pools, 850,000 square feet of shopping, a 15,000-seat showroom, and a 1.2-million-square-foot convention center. It also plans to house 15 fine dining restaurants.

 
 

Beyond that, Adelson has invested another $2 billion or so to put up hotel-mall-casino complexes that after opening alongside the Venetian around the end of 2007 function as satellite businesses. These Macau hotels are run by leading hotel operators, such as Four Seasons and Shangri-La, while Las Vegas Sands Inc. retains control of their showrooms and casinos.) And although it took at least 30 years for Vegas to become Vegas, Adelson figures it'll take about five for Cotai to become Asia's—and thus the world's—biggest gambling and entertainment Mecca.