Malaysian casino giant Genting makes $4.3bn bet on Las Vegas

Tourists are now returning but numbers remain well below 2019 levels.

Covering almost 88 acres, the new resort has 3,500 hotel rooms and suites, a 5,000-seat theatre and one of the world's biggest LED screens on one of its towers. It is the biggest new property on the city's famous Strip in over a decade.

Genting has partnered with US hospitality giant Hilton Worldwide, which has three hotels in the resort. It is hoped that the new attraction will prove to be a major boost for Las Vegas, which was hit hard by measures to slow the spread of Covid-19 last year.

The city saw visitor numbers jump over 15% between March and April this year but those numbers are still more than 27% lower than the same period in 2019, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority said.
The move also comes as many big casino operators focus on Asia. Las Vegas was overtaken by Macau as the world's biggest gambling centre in 2007.

Like Las Vegas, the so-called 'Monte Carlo of the East' was hit hard by the pandemic last year but attracted almost 40m visitors in 2019, predominantly from mainland China and Hong Kong.

Genting Group is also currently hoping to develop a major resort in Japan's Yokohama City, with its Singapore unit leading a bid by a consortium of major Japanese companies.

The company, which is headquartered in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, has operations around the world, including China, the US, India and the UK.

Resorts World Las Vegas delays
Genting bought the site in 2013 after a failed project by a previous owner but delayed the opening of the new resort several times due to design changes and other issues.

Its original plan was aimed to attract Asian gamblers, with a resort known in Chinese as 'Genting's World of China', featuring a live panda habitat and a replica of the Great Wall.

Those plans were scrapped for a less heavily themed approach, which will now include the kind of luxury features found at other resorts on the Strip.

Some Asian elements remain in the finished resort though - notably there are no fourth floors in the hotels because four is seen as an unlucky number in many Asian cultures.