Venetian Macao a top must-see destination

MACAO, China -- (PRESS RELEASE) -- On its opening night more than 76,000 excited customers made their way into The Venetian® Macao-Resort-Hotel, making its debut one of the most well-attended openings in gaming industry history and setting a dizzying pace that has continued through the resort- hotel's first week of operations.

The official opening day attendance figures, issued by The Venetian Macao-Resort-Hotel, were based on the first 11 hours of operations following the Grand Opening at 7:18 p.m. on Tuesday, August 28 2007. During its first full 24 hours of operations more than 114,000 people passed through the doors of The Venetian Macao.

"The enormous response to the opening of The Venetian Macao is very gratifying to us and it unequivocally validates our vision and the rationale behind the development of our multi-property Cotai Strip," said Sheldon G. Adelson, chairman and chief executive officer of Las Vegas Sands Corp.

Since opening to the public, The Venetian Macao-Resort-Hotel has continued to attract an unprecedented amount of visitors. It recorded an astonishing 170,000 people through its doors over the past weekend alone and more than 500,000 visitors have now taken advantage of the new facilities in less than one week since its opening. Daily figures have varied from 66,000 to 86,000 and public interest in The Venetian Macao Resort-Hotel and its amenities remains extremely high. Transportation to and from the property has run smoothly making it easy for guests from across the region to come see Asia's first truly integrated resort.

"We are delighted by the enthusiasm and interest shown by so many people in Macao, Hong Kong, China and the rest of the world who wanted to see and experience for themselves the atmosphere and excitement of our grand opening and enjoy for the very first time facilities that really are wholly unique in Macao and Asia," said Mark Brown, president of Sands Macao and The Venetian Macao-Resort-Hotel.

The US $2.4 billion Venetian Macao is the largest single-structure hotel in Asia and the second largest building in the world. The property features 1.2 million-square feet of meeting, convention and exhibition space, 3,000 all-suite guest rooms and the 15,000-seat Venetian Arena, which made its debut by holding the hotel's star-studded Grand Opening event which featured a cast of legendary entertainers from both North America and Asia, including A Mei, David Tao, Cirque du Soleil, Grasshopper, Alan Tam and Diana Ross. In the coming weeks The Venetian Arena will host a series of NBA exhibition games and a match-up of tennis greats Roger Federer and Pete Sampras.

The Venetian Macao is also home to one million square feet of retail space at The Grand Canal Shoppes. Since opening, the mall's cobblestone walkways have been packed with shoppers exploring the wide variety of shops and restaurants and standing in line to ride the famed Venetian gondolas in one of the mall's three indoor canals.

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