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Macau’s casino slots and bingos are spinning at full speed, as if the pandemic had never existed on Earth. If there is a China that is marching and has money, lots of money to spend, it is all concentrated here, the only protected betting bubble for the rich on the Continent. Perhaps naïve Chinese, t-shirts rolled up on bare bellies, wooden back scratchers close at hand next to a cup of green tea, to feel at home between bets at blackjack. With, in the extreme, super-sophisticated and designer ladies, impeccable, without a wrinkle or bags under their eyes but very expensive crocodile trunks on their arms and dizzying stilettos on their feet.
Chinese tourists, 90% of mainland China, arrive from everywhere, from Chengdu to Tianjin, unloaded in a continuous stream from casino buses. They crowd upturned around the giant armillary sphere in the lobby of the Venetian Macao, the largest in the world with its 50,000 square meters on five levels, reminiscent of those of the Jesuit astronomer Matteo Ricci. They are in the former Portuguese colony not only to play roulette, but to go shopping, they remain speechless in front of the cardboard marvels in great dusting that draw with both hands from the iconography of the most loved romantic city in the world, Venice, including the Chinese, Obviously. Music by Vivaldi and Boccherini galore.
“Our philosophy is changing – says Henry Ho, head of the business development unit of the Government of Macao – casinos and their future are the clearest example of this strategy”. The Special Administrative Region wants to shed its skin, it is now home to a mega entertainment center teeming with theme parks, a city within a city dedicated to pure entertainment. Of course, the proximity to Shenzhen is being exploited to expand into the high-tech sector but, above all, Macao is reviewing the function of its casinos which also contribute 80% of government revenue.
About ten casinos at the top, twenty if we extend to the Cotai strip, the Macau peninsula and Taipa Island. Protagonists who, in the meantime, double the surface area, behind the Venetian, the flagship, with Galaxy Macau as leader, another big name, going wild with the expansion of the volumes with bulldozers active day and night. It builds and expands, as in the roaring old days, when it all began on the threshold of the third millennium.
More volumes, more shopping areas, more hotels and shops. «We are very interested in western fashion brands, because here – says Posy Kuok, pr of the Venetian, on behalf of the Sands China limited group – our customers can enjoy a complete experience of pleasure and beauty, in contact with the best of beauty ». As if to say, and it is true, there is no need to travel abroad, to Europe, because Europe is already here, enclosed in the boutiques of the casino malls, in the all-inclusive prize packages ranging from wellness to art to most loved brands.