Las Vegas Sands to Develop,
Own Resort in Macau
by Keri Geiger
From The Wall Street Journal Online
June 12, 2006
Gambling company Las Vegas Sands Corp. plans to develop and own a resort in Macau that will be managed by Fairmont Raffles Holdings International, the two companies said. The resort will include 1,500 rooms and will be part of the Cotai Strip development on Cotai, an area of reclaimed land between the islands of Taipa and Coloane in Macau, an enclave on the southern coast of China.
The resort will also feature residential apartments, casino gambling facilities and retail space, the companies said.
In the past few years, Macau has built up a thriving tourism industry as it has opened up its gambling industry. Tourism numbers are set to rise further and faster as several grandiose casino projects start operating from 2007 on the Cotai Strip, which is on course to become the city's equivalent of the Las Vegas Strip.
"This completes our vision for the first phase of the Cotai Strip, and we could not be happier with the quality of hotel companies that have joined with us in our pursuit of developing Asia's Las Vegas," said Sheldon Adelson, chairman and chief executive of Las Vegas Sands.
Fairmont Raffles Holdings International is owned by affiliates of Kingdom Hotels International and Colony Capital LLC. It owns and operates hotels under the Fairmont, Raffles, Swissotel and Delta brands.
In Macau, Las Vegas Sands owns and operates the Sands Macao, a casino on the city's peninsula, and the Las Vegas-based company is developing other hotel projects on Cotai.
Melco International Development Ltd. and Shun Tak Holdings Ltd. are also planning developments on Cotai.
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