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Vegas tycoon Wynn opens huge casino resort in Macau
2006-09-05
Cut-throat competition to control what is tipped to become the world's largest casino market heated up when US tycoon Steve Wynn opened his latest mega-resort in southern China's Macau. Wynn vowed Tuesday to revolutionize the mushrooming Asian gambling haven but distanced himself from a bitter war of words between his two main rivals that has electrified this tiny peninsular city. "We will bring a new day and a new beginning to Macau," the Las Vegas-based billionaire told reporters at a pre-opening reception at the glitzy new complex. "We were selected by the government of Macau to bring change (to the city) -- now change has come," he said. Wynn Macau is the first integrated casino and hotel resort to open in the former Portuguese enclave and the second US gaming venue to open since a 2001 law liberalized the city's century-old casino industry. The first, Sands Macau -- a subsidiary of Wynn's rival Las Vegas Sands, run by gaming magnate Sheldon Adelson -- opened the floodgates to a surge of some 20 billion dollars of overseas investment that has transformed the once sleepy enclave. Wynn was also the first American to show any interest in the city when reform of the gaming laws brought an end to a 40-year monopoly owned by local magnate Stanley Ho. Adelson and Ho have been fighting a very public spat in the press following claims by the elderly Macau tycoon that the US operators were being given an unfair advantage by the local government and that their cut-price operations were bankrupting some of his established casinos. Wynn refused to join the fray, saying: "I am delighted to be a spectator to that shooting match. I have great admiration for Mr Ho and his casinos. We have a lot to learn from him." Wynn, whose empire includes the Bellagio and the Mirage in Las Vegas, also shrugged off econommists' worries that the pace of development in Macau was too fast for a city of just 450,000, saying there was ample room for growth. "We have a perfect case study in Las Vegas of a city that has grown not in spite of its development but because of its development," he added. "Macau can absorb the rooms provided that the experience offered at the resorts is wonderful -- hotels will be built here that are wonderful," he added. Expectations for Wynn Macau are high as it brings a reputation for high-quality service in a city that has historically lacked a service culture. All 600 rooms were fully booked for the first night, a source said, and local dignitaries, including Macau's China-picked political leader Edmund Ho, were expected at a fireworks display just before the midnight opening. Security had also been stepped up to prevent a repeat of the riot-like scuffles that greeted Sands' opening in 2004 as thousands of locals tried to gatecrash the opening celebrations. Macau's once moribund casino sector has been revitalized by a sudden surge of tourists from mainland China, brought on by a relaxation of Chinese travel restrictions. Competition among its gaming halls is likely to get tougher as about 20 more giant hotel resorts are due to built in the next five years. Most of them are planned for a casino district being built on a 100,000-square-metre (1.07-million-square-foot) stretch of land called the Cotai Strip. Analysts in Asia and Nevada have predicted that Macau will eclipse the Las Vegas Strip sometime this year as the biggest gambling draw in the world. While official figures show the city's casinos equalled the 5.6 billion dollars taken on the Vegas Strip last year, analysts suspect under-reporting means Macau probably beat the US gambling haven by two billion dollars.
Macau confirms its casinos overtake Las Vegas Strip (2007-04-03)Casino kings betting on a Macau boom (2007-03-03)Vegas tycoon Wynn opens huge casino resort in Macau (2006-09-05)Casino tycoon urges public support for Hong Kong reform (2005-11-25)Tycoon Stanley Ho to open his 14th casino in Macau (2005-01-04)
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