Macau, a tiny special administrative region of China where you can find plenty of excellent holiday apartments in China, appears to have overtaken the famous Las Vegas Strip as the world's top gambling destination.
Macau is set to earn $6.8bn (£3.6bn) in casino revenues in 2006 compared with Las Vegas' $6.6bn, say leisure industry consultants Globalysis.
Foreign casino operators entered Macau in 2001, two years after Portugal handed the territory back to China.
Tourists have flocked, 10.5 million arriving from China alone in 2005.
Macau's 23rd casino, Star World, is opening this week, and billions more dollars are due to be invested in new hotels, casinos and entertainment venues over the next few years.
Up until liberalisation, Macau's casino industry was controlled by Stanley Ho's Sociedade de Jogos de Macau.
Expansion plans. Now global gaming giants including Wynn Resorts, MGM Mirage, Publishing and Broadcasting and Galaxy Casino are building or have plans to build sites in the 23.8 sq-km territory.
The giant City of Dreams resort complex is set to feature the island's first underwater casino.
It is the brainchild of Mr Ho's son Lawrence Ho, whose Melco International is one of the region's biggest casino operators.
Macau claims to be home to the world's largest casino, the Sands Macao, but Las Vegas still dominates in terms of the number of slot machines and gaming tables.
Despite its smaller gaming capacity, Macau's revenues are outstripping those in Vegas, because its punters prefer the gaming tables to slot machines and play for higher stakes.
| Location: | |||
