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By Sonia Kolesnikov-Jessop
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Gambling is out. Few have the stomach anymore to risk their assets on the stock market, real estate or even a work of art, let alone the blackjack table. Casinos from Las Vegas to Macau are suffering as tourists tighten their belts and corporations under scrutiny choose less glitzy locations to hold events. Yet amid the gloom and doom, a handful of gaming operators are going all in, opening enticing new properties—like the dazzling M Hotel in Las Vegas—and investing in the future of entertainment.
That future includes much more than just gambling. Las Vegas Sands plans to gain a foothold in the Eastern U.S. this May with a resort in the unlikely city of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. While the company has scaled back plans for the $743 million complex, eliminating the construction of a hotel and mall, it will still debut with 3,000 state-of-the-art slot machines and a variety of entertainment and dining options—including, they say, a steakhouse by a celebrity chef who so far remains nameless. The resort hopes to lure visitors from New York and New Jersey who typically frequent the casinos in Atlantic City (sandsbethworks.com).
In Singapore, Las Vegas Sands is also pushing ahead with the iconic $5.4 billion Marina Bay Sands, an engineering marvel designed by Moshe Safdie and scheduled to open in December. The property consists of three distinctive 55-story towers connected at the top by a 340-meter-long sky park—the size of the Eiffel Tower lying on its side—which includes a 146-meter-long infinity pool overlooking the glittering cityscape. Another über-cool feature will be the two crystal pavilions floating in the bay, glass structures set over the water that connect to the main property via an underground tunnel. One pavilion is set to become a showroom for a still-to-be revealed European luxury fashion brand, while the other will be a nightclub (marinabaysands.com).
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A few months after Marina Bay, another multibillion-dollar casino development, Resorts World at Sentosa, is set to open in Singapore. Pitched as a family-friendly destination, it will feature four hotels and a 7,300-seat ballroom, as well as the first Universal Studios theme park in Southeast Asia, with 24 rides and attractions, including two giant roller coasters and the first-ever Transformers ride. When completed in the first quarter of 2010, its Marine Life Park is set to be the world's largest oceanarium, with 700,000 fish in 20 million gallons of water. The resort will also feature a giant water slide taking thrill seekers on a ride through treetops and jungle greenery, as well as a grand multimedia production involving animatronic cranes. Details on the resort's gaming components have not yet been revealed, but the casino will spread over 15,000 square meters and visitors will be able to stay at six hotels, including the ultraluxurious Maxims Tower and a trendy Hard Rock Hotel.
Elsewhere in Asia, the race to establish a presence in Macau is riding on the opening in June of the $2.1 billion City of Dreams, a project run by Australian businessman James Packer and Lawrence Ho, son of Macau magnate Stanley Ho. The initial opening will feature a 140,000-square-meter casino with about 550 gaming tables and 1,500 machines, as well as more than 20 restaurants and bars and four luxury hotels, including the Crown Towers and Hard Rock. The Bubble, a dome-shaped theater, will also present a 360-degree multimedia extravaganza combining high-definition content integrating Chinese symbols of prosperity with over 29,000 theatrical LED lights.
The idea of building the next gaming mecca is also creating buzz in Europe. The British company International Leisure Development has announced plans to establish a new "destination" city, Gran Scala, in Spain's Aragon Desert, which would cover 3,000 hectares with 32 casinos and 18 theme parks. To be sure, it seems like a lot to gamble on now, when the chips are down. But then again, doesn't the house always win?
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