"Future Shopping and Gambling on Steroids" - The Cotai Strip in Macau

Yesterday we had a Farewell Party to attend in Macau which was nearly made impossible to reach - the only ferries we were able to still book were leaving at 2:45pm to Macau coming back at 12:30am - the reason for the crazyness?
Here's what I've read and heard -

Besides the existing casinos and the 11-months-old Wynn Macau, the 3000-suite Venetian Macao Resort Hotel which is the world's biggest casino and the 2nd largest building by floor area worldwide opened it's doors this week. It's located on the so called Cotai Strip which originates from combining the names of the surrounding islands of Coloane and Taipa and will host 350 shops of which 160 are open so far. Every major international luxury brand will have a presence on the Strip in the near future since the chinese customer is considered the highest spending tourist on retail (outside of his country) in the world - Chinese people just love to shop.

The frantic pace of hotel development on the Strip will result in more than 20.000 rooms in more than 10 Las Vegas-style luxury resorts with nearly 3.000 gambling tables being available by 2009/2010. I heard that the Convention Centre in the Venetian is already fully booked for the coming 2 years and I am sure it'll become a huge competitor for the HK Exhibition & Convention Centre. The hotel will boast a 2-level Buddha Bar, a pool big enough to water-ski in and - of course - a 1.800 seat theatre for a permanent, new Cirque de Soleil show plus a 15.000-seat indoor arena that puts anything in HK to shame. In October the NBA's Orlando Magic and the Cleveland Cavaliers are expected followed by a match between Roger Federer and Pete Sampras in november which was completely sold out within days.

Next door the Four Seasons, the InterContinental, Shangri-La, Traders, Sheraton & St. Regis, Hilton, Conrad, Fairmont & Raffles, Ritz-Carlton, Macau Studio City Hotel AND a Playboy Mansion are currently under construction, each with 100ds of more upscale shops AND malls - each of the properties will be connected by elevated walkways and footbridges to assure smooth traffic...and then there are of course the other casinos on the Macau Peninsula itself... Official forecasts predict that Macau can expect an annual 40 million arrivals by 2010.

W O W - but will these projects be able to fulfill the high expectations of Macau investors and where do they get enough bilingual, well-trained staff to keep up the standards of 5* and 6* hotels? Maybe I should return to my original professional roots, like this I could monitor the developments with my own eyes.

...and where does that leave the old native macanese families who have to put up with such a zoo in the future - after all, for many years they were used to living mostly simple lives in a peaceful, sleepy fishing village with one small casino for the locals - the Lisboa...

Home Sweet Home

although I was wondering whether I was really back in HK at first - while starring out of our kitchen window after our return I saw one of the construction workers right next to our building standing on top of the deserted construction platform, throwing his shoes from his feet, carefully emptying his pant pockets, unrolling a small carpet and getting ready for his prayers in the direction of Mecca - never seen this happening in the middle of a construction site before...

...hey there, just checking in - hope everyone had a fantabulous summer and isn't caught up too much in the daily life duties already - our trip to Munich was as turbulent as always, apologies to those I haven't called but I was really busy, more on that in private emails if anybody is curious...after having lived in the States for 8 years and now in Hong Kong since nearly 2 years, Germany seems more and more like "toy land" upon arrival - the ride to my hometown takes me about an hour from the airport and passing through small villages, seeing the countryside and the mountains flying by in the distance, everything seems so peaceful and in order but also rather smallish in comparison to NYC or HK - I wonder whether one day Germany will serve as a gigantic holiday Spa for tourists visiting from overcrowded countries like China and India in search of a little crispy clear air and some peaceful picturesque nature? Anyway, we enjoyed it as much as always and had a good time. In the meantime we also managed to put the jetlag behind us and sleepless nights sitting on the balcony while munching on german gummibaer's are in the past.

Fall seems to become very busy with classes, trips and visitors pouring in but I'll make time to keep on telling you what's going on in HK, promised....ciao for today...