World Gaming Magazine

14 WGM #61 2018/08 wgm8.com 封面故事 COVER STORY 时为2002年，美国博彩企业拉斯维加斯金沙集团，已 在澳门半岛开设了其在亚洲地区的第一个赌场——澳门金 沙——并在寻找合适的地点，以建造一个超越这弹丸之地 想象的巨型综合度假村。但知易行难，将雄心壮志变成现 实的过程殊不简单。 根据政府方面的说法，解决方案是位于澳门半岛以南 的填海地段路氹区。政府的原意，是将填海而成的土地作 发展住宅项目之用，但随着原定计划落空，政府决定将之 转予拉斯维加斯金沙集团，以及其雄心万丈的首席执行官 谢尔登•阿德尔森。 2016年，阿德尔森为集团在澳门的第四个综合度假 村——澳门巴黎人——开幕时，回忆道：「他们当年陪同 我去看这块土地时，我问他们说：『你们说的那块土地在 哪里？』当时，这里还是一块被水淹没的湿地。」 去年，拉斯维加斯金沙集团董事总经理乔志腾接受 WGM姊妹杂志《Inside Asian Gaming》采访时，回忆 说：「当年的路氹地段全是被水淹没的湿地。我们与投资 者等一起上山，俯瞰下面机械装置进行填海作业。」 独具慧眼的阿德尔森，却在这片沼泽看到了前景。他 决意要抓住机遇，并计划在这里建造一个占地1,000,000 平方米、全球最大的赌场度假村。于2007年8月28日正式 开幕时，澳门威尼斯人乃全球第五大建筑物。澳门威尼斯 人拥有3,000间客房，比当时全球最大度假村的客房数目高 出两倍；此外，澳门威尼斯人亦包括可容纳15,000人的金 光综艺馆、占地111,500平方米的会展空间、占地150,000 the top at the machinery that was in place to reclaim the land.” Yet Adelson saw something in this swamp that few others could. Seizing the opportunity, he devised a plan to build the biggest casino-resort the world had ever seen, covering almost one million square meters of land. The fifth largest building of any kind in the world when it eventually opened on 28 August 2007, the Venetian Macao’s 3,000 guest rooms just about tripled the amount found in the biggest resorts of the time while also adding the 15,000 seat Cotai Arena, 111,500 square meters of MICE space, 150,000 square meters of retail and a monstrous casino housing 878 gaming tables and room for 3,300 slot machines. “There was a lot of skepticism surrounding the VenetianMacao at the time,” recalls Alidad Tash, who joined the company’s pre-opening team in 2006 as Director of Strategic Marketing. “When Sands Macao opened in 2004 it was such a surprise, a huge success, but people wondered, ‘Can Sheldon Adelson replicate it?’ I remember meetings in 2007 where we were trying to figure out how to operate 3,000 hotel rooms. That’s a lot of rooms. In fact, when we first opened, we actually had to shut down 1,500 rooms because we didn’t have enough maids – and the ones we did have didn’t have enough experience – to clean that many rooms in time. 2006年澳门威尼斯人在建中 The Venetian Macao during construction in 2006