Macao
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I hope at this point everyone knows what Macao is and where it is located. If not, here’s a quick overview:
Macao is a Special Administrative Region (SAR) of China, just like Hong Kong. Macau has its own government, passports, visas, postal system and currency.
Macao is the only place in China where casino gambling is legal. For years and years Dr. Stanley Ho had a monopoly on gambling in China. The casinos he controlled were usually smoky, dirty, and increasingly run down. They were however packed, with each gambling table surrounded by gamblers, usually 3-5 people deep.
The Government of Macao then decided to open the casino industry up to new entrants. Without going into all the details of how the gaming concessions (licenses) were awarded, American gaming companies Wynn Resorts, Las Vegas Sands, and MGM-Mirage, Australian gaming company PBL, and two companies run by Stanley Ho’s children, Melco and Grand Paradise, all received concessions.
The Macanese government also decided to create a new casino district by reclaiming land from the ocean between Macao’s two islands, Taipa Island and Coloane Island. This are was called Cotai.
When the new licenses were handed out, the companies began their plan to build hotels and casinos in what can only be described as a massive boom of development that would expand hotel rooms from 10,000 to 40,000 or more, increase the number of slot machines and tables by multiples, and transform Macao from a dingy, smoky, day-trip gambling destination to the Las Vegas of the Orient.
Several new hotel casinos were built in the bustling Peninsula area of Macao, where many of the older casinos were located, but the most exciting projects are being planned and built for Cotai and Las Vegas Sands’ Cotai Strip®.