The zoning commission of Las Vegas gave the go ahead for construction on what will be the city’s first new big resort for eight years, Resorts World Las Vegas. According to the developer Genting Americas Inc., its new Chinese-themed, “gaming-changing” project will feature “modern interpretations of Chinese details,” a recreation of Beijing’s Forbidden City and a panda exhibit. On the 35-hectare site at the northern end of the Las Vegas Strip, an initial phase will center on a single hotel tower with 3,300 rooms and 61,000 square meters of public space, with a cinema and convention facilities. Ultimately the project should cost US$4 billion and have four highrise hotels, adding more than 7,000 hotel rooms to Las Vegas’ total of nearly 125,000.
For 48 years until 2006, the landmark Stardust resort and casino operated at the site. Owner Boyd Gaming Corp imploded the Stardust in 2007 and started work on its replacement development Echelon, which the global financial collapse halted in 2008. In 2013 Boyd sold the site to Genting for US$350 million.
Las Vegas’ gaming revenue fell 3.6% last year to US$6.3 billion, and is still off its 2007 peak of $6.83 billion. Entry into the world’s most competitive casino market might seem risky for an Asian company in such a climate. Yet Genting Group is perhaps the best qualified to go up against American heavyweights on their home turf. In addition to casinos in Malaysia, Genting Americas’ parent runs highly succesful resorts in the Philippines and Singapore, is the largest casino operator in the UK, and since 2011 has been operating the first and only legal casino in metropolitan New York, although all gaming in the property is electronically based. Crucially, Genting also has a deep capability in marketing to Chinese gamblers, who now make up one of the most important segments of the global market.
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