Adelson confident on Macau casino gamble

MACAU: A day before his $2.4 billion gamble in Macau even opens to the public, Sheldon Adelson, the world's sixth-richest man, said his gargantuan Venetian casino resort is already another winner.

His Venetian Macao opens on Tuesday with 3,000 hotel rooms, a theatre and a sports stadium, spread out over what the company says is the second-largest building in the world in terms of floor area.

And the confident tycoon, who helped turn Las Vegas from Sin City into a world-beating family and convention destination, has no doubt the sprawling Venetian will recreate his magic touch in the former Portuguese colony.

"It is already a success. We know that from advance bookings and from the comments we have already received," Adelson said in an interview.

"There is no doubt in my mind whatsoever. The conviction is unequivocal, it is unquestionable, it is irreversible, it is absolutely certain," he said, stressing that his company was investing up to 12 billion dollars in Macau.

"That is not just another cup of coffee."

His Las Vegas Sands company has already had one smash hit in Macau with the Sands, which opened in 2004 -- and paid for its investment in just 12 months, thanks to what Adelson calls the "Asian propensity to gamble."

Now the 74-year-old -- worth 26.5 billion dollars, according to Forbes magazine -- is betting that his latest venture will bring good luck all over again.

Adelson's goal is to stretch the average length of stay of a Macau visitor to three and a half days, by offering unrivalled entertainment and convention facilities.

It is the same strategy he used to reinvent Las Vegas, turning a pure gambling centre into one of the biggest boomtowns in the United States -- and one where gaming reportedly accounts for less than half of resort revenues.

The current average stay in Macau is only 1.2 days, meaning most visitors to the tiny southern Chinese territory are day-trippers not spending much money on food or shopping. 

To address that, the sprawling Venetian Macao site includes 350 retail units. While only 130 are occupied at opening, he said -- including luxury brands like Tiffany and Versace -- all would be full by November.

Like its namesake in Las Vegas, the Venetian Macao is an over-the-top recreation of Venice, with ceilings hand-painted like Renaissance frescos and canals with gondolas to ferry shoppers from one luxury boutique to the next.

"We know why it works, why we have the best employees -- and we are copying the business model of the most successful hotel in history," Adelson said. "It cannot help but be a success."

The Venetian Macao is the anchor project in an attempt to replicate the success of the Las Vegas Strip. The reclaimed Cotai Strip, where his company's investment is targeted, will be home to 20,000 hotel rooms by 2009.

Macau has boomed since 2001 when it opened up its casinos to outside competition after being run on a monopoly basis by Stanley Ho for decades.

Adelson believes he can recoup his 2.4 billion dollars from the Venetian's operations in 3-5 years, and said he was not worried by the Chinese government's recent move to restrict Chinese mainland visitors to Macau.   

Some analysts have said the move is a reaction against both the social problems associated with gambling and the worry that hard-earned Chinese cash is leaking overseas.

When asked if his company was negotiating with the mainland over the restrictions, Adelson said only that Sands "talks with the Chinese government on all issues" and that he was confident plenty of visits would be allowed.

But even if the supply if China's gamblers does dry up, he is sure the model will still work and is not dependent on the whims of the Chinese government.

"We have to compensate for that by bringing in other ethnic groups," he said. 

"For it not to work here, somebody would have to say that Asian people do not like to be entertained. I don't know anybody who is willing to say that."