Las Vegas Sand wants to build more Cotai Strips in Asia

Las Vegas Sands Corp. Chairman and CEO Sheldon Adelson said his company stands ready to take its Cotai Strip model of destination resort development into other emerging Asian gaming markets.

Adelson wants the jurisdictions to cough up lucrative tax breaks, infrastructure construction and other concessions before the gaming company will spend USD 15 billion to USD 20 billion to replicate what it is building in Macau.

In a luncheon address Wednesday at the JPMorgan Chase & Co. investment conference that was held at the Las Vegas Sands-owned Venetian, Adelson said his company has conducted economic impact studies on emerging markets in Asia that are considering legalizing casinos.

The billionaire casino developer, now the world’s 12th richest person according to Forbes magazine, told the audience if a jurisdiction wants just a casino, Las Vegas Sands would spend „a couple hundred million to build a big box.“

He said the company was willing to spend billions on an integrated resort, which would include a casino, hotel rooms, retail areas, convention space, restaurants and other amenities, similar to the company’s planned USD 4 billion Marina Bay Sands in Singapore.

A string of integrated resorts, however, such as Macau’s Cotai Strip, will cost extra. Las Vegas Sands is spending USD 12 billion on the Cotai Strip to build 14 casinos with 20,000 hotel rooms, convention space and dozens of restaurants.