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UK
Casino Times
> Casino
News
25 October 2006
Macau Overtakes Las Vegas
Strip
Macau,
a tiny special administrative region of China, appears to
have overtaken the famous Las
Vegas Strip as the
world's top gambling destination.
Macau is set to earn
$6.8bn (£3.6bn) in casino revenues in 2006 compared
with Las
Vegas' $6.6bn, say
leisure industry consultants Globalysis.
Foreign casino operators
entered Macau in 2001, two years after Portugal handed the
territory back to China.
Tourists have flocked,
10.5 million arriving from China alone in 2005.
Macau's 23rd casino, Star
World, is opening this week, and billions more dollars are
due to be invested in new hotels, casinos and entertainment
venues over the next few years.
Up until liberalisation,
Macau's casino industry was controlled by Stanley Ho's
Sociedade de Jogos de Macau.
Now global gaming giants
including Wynn
Resorts, MGM
Mirage, Publishing and Broadcasting and Galaxy Casino are
building or have plans to build sites in the 23.8 sq-km
territory.
The giant City of Dreams
resort complex is set to feature the island's first
underwater casino.
It is the brainchild of Mr
Ho's son Lawrence Ho, whose Melco International is one of
the region's biggest casino operators.
Macau claims to be home to
the world's largest casino, the Sands Macao, but Las Vegas
still dominates in terms of the number of slot machines and
gaming tables.
Despite its smaller gaming
capacity, Macau's revenues are outstripping those in Vegas,
because its punters prefer the gaming tables to slot
machines and play for higher stakes.
Although Macau is
currently the only part of China to allow gambling, the city
does face the growing threat of competition from elsewhere
in Asia.
Singapore has dropped its
40-year ban and agreed to the building of two huge casino
resorts.
There has been talk of
gaming laws being relaxed in countries including Thailand,
Vietnam, Japan and Taiwan.
And Las Vegas is unlikely
to be behind in the casino earnings stakes for
long.
The Nevada town is set for
an estimated $20bn investment over the next five years, as
operators look to update and improve its casino and
non-gaming amenities.
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