The sheer scale of China's pent-up demand for gambling continues to foment a bonanza of hotel and casino development in Macau, the only place gaming is allowed in the People's Republic. Macau has four times the gambling revenue of Las Vegas, and although gaming dominates revenue, Macau is a hot spot for retail as well. The seeds also are being sown for it to become a more multi-faceted destination with shows and family entertainment — similar to the way Las Vegas evolved over the past three decades."There's too much demand," says Greg Stockdale, managing director of Avasara, a hospitality consulting firm in Macau. "They could build 10,000 hotels and fill them ... because it's the only legal gaming place in China."The customers are primarily from mainland China, and despite visa restrictions on visits imposed by Beijing, the punters pour in year-round to drink tea and play baccarat with serious faces. There are enough of them that the recent recession was hardly a speed bump for Macau.
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