Meet Vegas' big brother: Macau

Part of a mega hotel-convention-entertainment centre, this casino is built to host about 6,000 slot machines in 5,46,000 sq ft. Its target is new Asian, young, rich and within five kilometres of Macau. In fact, with about half the world's population, about three billion people living in that five-kilometre flying radius of Asia's Sin City, it is no surprise that Macau left Vegas behind in where it matters most - the bottom line - raking in an estimated US$ 6.8 billion.

And the Venetian Macau is set to rule here in the coming few decades. Built on land reclaimed from the sea, today this is a giant anchor hotel of the 10.5 mn sq ft Cotai Strip. The strip, whose name is derived from two of Macau's lesser-known islands - Colanne and Taipa, is witness to 14 world class hotels coming up at top speed. With a combined room capacity of 20,000 and an estimated expenditure of US$ 25-50 billion by 2010, it is a whole new city coming up at great speed.

The Venetian has cost about US$ 12 billion already, with some work left, but the rest of the Strip will have three mn sq ft of retail, three mn sq ft of meeting and convention facilities as well as a 1,800-seat entertainment complex. Sheldon G Adelson, chairman of the board and CEO, Las Vegas Sands, the holding company of the Venetian, says he looks forward to the Strip changing the face of the gaming industry in Macau, changing its image of a rather seedy gambling den to a modern, legal global centre for gaming. "We wanted to build space for 60,000 rooms, but got permission for just a third of that capacity," he says.