The Venetian casino in Macau opened on Tuesday, which dwarfs anything in Las Vegas and is big enough to move the north of the gambling world to a small city in southern China, operators say.
American billionaire Sheldon Adelson and his wife Miriam have set up a $2.4 billion Venetian Macao on the island of Kotai for smashing a bottle on a gondola. The ship will float off one of the three indoor canals — one in Venice, Las Vegas.
Casinos such as Win and Adelson Sands have led this small city in southern China through Streep to the world’s most profitable gambling place.
Adelson, chairman of the Las Vegas Sands company, wants to go one step further with the 15-million-square-foot Venice.
Hundreds of visitors flocked under the golden dome just inside the entrance on Tuesday, stepping on a thick champagne-colored carpet and appreciating the frescoes.
Adelson hopes the complex will transform Macau into a gambling place for Chinese tourists, a holiday and business convention destination where tourists shop, watch shows and roll dice.
“Today marks the beginning of recreating the entertainment capital of Asia that I’ve long dreamed of for Asians,” Adelson told a news conference.
Casinos in Macau are scattered across two remote islands by a peninsula connected to mainland China and a reclaimed land called Kota. 슬롯머신
Adelson said his Venetian Macao in Kotai was a cornerstone of what he called Kotai Streep, a resort-dense area.
Las Vegas Sands claims that Venice Macau, originally twice the size of Las Vegas, is the largest building in Asia and the second largest in the world. Boeing claims to have the world’s largest building in the state of Washington.
Venetians boast the world’s largest gaming space of 550,000 square feet, accommodating 3,400 slot machines, expanding to 6,000 and holding more than 800 gambling tables.
There are 3,000 rooms, 15,000-seat sports stadiums, retail space for 350 stores, 1.2 million square feet of convention space, fine dining and circus-making shows in the sun.
The decorations of the resort were inspired by Venice. Not only the gondolas, but also the Chinese-style Sampando will sail along the canal. The resort also features replicas of St. Mark’s Square in Venice.
Adelson also plans to open more hotels under brands such as Four Seasons, Sheraton, and St. Regis. In all, his Las Vegas Sands, which also operates Sands on the Macau Peninsula, plans to build 20,000 hotel rooms on Cotai Strip by 2010.
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