MACAU : The Venetian Macao, the world's biggest casino by gaming tables, opens to the public on Tuesday in an attempt to trump its rivals not only as a gambling paradise but an entertainment centre. The 2.4 billion-dollar resort, built entirely on a reclaimed land called the Cotai Strip, mirrors the Venetian casino complex in Las Vegas -- complete with replicas of Venice's famous canals and romantic architecture.
The ambitious project boasts a fleet of gondolas and includes a copy of Venice's Bridge of Sighs and of St Mark's Square, which has a ceiling of a fake blue sky with white clouds.
The mega resort will feature 850 gaming tables and 4,100 slot machines on floors as big as three football pitches.
With 3,000 hotel rooms, a theatre, a 15,000-seat stadium and 350 shops, the complex aims to turn the tiny territory of 520,000 people from a purely gambling venue to a true entertainment destination.
"It cannot help but be a success," Sheldon Adelson, chief executive of Las Vegas Sands, operator of the Venetian Macao, told AFP in an interview Monday.
"We run a hotel at Las Vegas at 100 percent occupancy, we know why it works, why we have the best employees and we are copying the business model of the most successful hotel in history.
"There is no doubt in my mind whatsoever," he said.
After Macau liberalised its monopolistic gaming market once dominated by local tycoon Stanley Ho, Sands opened the first major US casino in the southern Chinese territory in 2004 and paid for its investment in 12 months.
Now, Adelson said he hopes to make back the 2.4 billion-dollar investment in the Venetian, the second-largest building in the world, within five years.
Analysts said Adelson's bet on the cut-throat gaming competition could pay off, although they believe the Venetian may not draw all the customers away in a market that VIP baccarat accounts for two-thirds of the gaming revenues.
"Some casinos have been here for ages and they have their own loyal VIP customers. They won't switch because of a new casino," said Fong Ka-chio, director of the Institute for the Study of Commercial Gaming in Macau.
"Operators will find a way to retain their customers. It's very unlikely that the Venetian will take away all the business," he said.
But Adelson has his tricks to lure visitors to stay longer than the average stay of 1.2 days -- by offering them convention facilities and getting them to watch shows, and to shop and enjoy fine-dining, rather than just gambling.
The Venetian aims to become a world-leading convention destination with its huge exhibition space and has already booked 44 events at the centre over the next two years.
Like Las Vegas, the resort will also host shows to draw more customers with its 1,800-seat theatre, which will be home to the renowned Cirque de Soleil.
The Venetian also hopes its shops, to be occupied by luxury brands like Tiffany and Versace, will attract wealthy Chinese, among whom analysts expect demand for luxury goods to grow 20 percent per year.
"Macau is such a small place. There's a limit on how many tourists we can take. If you have limited capacity, would they want to attract people who would spend 1,000 dollars or 100 dollars?" Fong said.
"I believe they aim to attract more rich people who will be willing to spend not just on gambling but on shows and shops. I think that would be a trend," he added. - AFP/ir
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