Venetian bonanza for HK
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The Hong Kong Tourism Board acknowledged that while there would be a short-term impact, it is not highly concerned and looking forward to it, The Standard reported.
Las Vegas Sands Corp chairman and chief executive Sheldon Adelson plans to turn the Venetian Macao on the Cotai Strip into a major international convention hub. In addition to the world’s largest casino at 51,000 square meters and a 3,000-suite hotel, the complex offers about 111,500 sqm of meeting, convention and exhibition space. According to the newspaper, the centre has already booked 44 events that will be hosted there over the next two years.
“The opening of the Venetian Macao will inevitably bring novelty,” said a spokesperson for the Hong Kong Tourism Board. “We expect that there will be a certain impact on incentive travel and corporate meetings from some short-haul markets in the near future.”
A tourism board spokesperson quoted said Hong Kong already faces competition from other Asian destinations, and the addition of meeting, convention, and exhibition facilities in nearby destinations will only enhance the entire industry in the Pearl River Delta region.
The Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre’s managing director Cliff Wallace said: “The Venetian may create a little competition.. (but) I don’t think it’s going to be competition we have to be concerned about.”
“More positively, it’s going to be competition that will eventually be an advantage to Hong Kong and the HKCEC,” Wallace told the newspaper.
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