Asian Whales
August 1, 2007

The New York Times reports that all the best suites in Vegas are occupied by Asians. That's not news to me. I remember sitting next to an architect on a plane ride to Florida 15 years ago. He told me, then, that the 2,000-square-foot luxury suites he designed for Atlantic City hotel/casinos were done in Oriental styles to accommodate the Asian "whales" that play there.

Recently, The Times says, this trend has accelerated: "Casinos have become much more aggressive in wooing Asians both domestically and abroad. They are aiming not just at the newly wealthy from China, who in recent years have emerged as Las Vegas's best customers, but also Asian-Americans and recent immigrants from the Pacific Rim."

Las Vegas Sands Corp, the owner of the Venetian in Las Vegas, is building a sister hotel in Macau, China. But this one is bigger and better. It will have 3,000 rooms, 700 gambling tables, four swimming pools, and an underground city to accommodate customer needs. Its high-end retail shops, The Wall Street Journal reports, will employ 16,000 people and occupy a million square feet of space, an "area big enough to host simultaneous football games by all 32 teams in the NFL."

I think about my friends who are doing business in China. They are in the right place at the right time.

posted by M. Masterson @ 8:33 AM,

1 Comments:

At 12:38 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Las Vegas Sands Corp is not the only company getting in on the act.

MPEL is getting in on this surge...
MPEL will develop and construct the Hard Rock Hotel, Grand Hyatt,Hyatt
Regency and the Crown Towers plus entertainment venues, retail shops
and luxury living quarters.


MelcoBPL will run casinos in buildings created by Macao City and have Taubman as a select retail partner. The 6-million square foot Macau Studio City - located next
to the new Lotus Bridge immigration checkpoint linking Macau and China
- will offer luxury hotels like China Club, Marriott International,
and Ritz-carlton, television studios and film production facilities and retail shops.

 

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