The hopes of more than a dozen hotel, casino and retail operators building on the 'Cotai Strip' - 4 square km (1.5 square miles) of reclaimed land fusing two islands - are pinned on the Venetian Macao, built by U.S. The world's biggest casino opens in Macau on Tuesday, the most ambitious throw of the dice yet in a $24 billion effort to build a Las Vegas-style 'neon alley' in this once-sleazy Chinese gambling enclave. William P.Weidner (L), president and Chief operating officer of Las Vegas Sands Corp., Sheldon Adelson (C), chairman and Chief executive officer of Las Vegas Sands Corp, and his wife Miriam Adelson look at a model during the ground breaking ceremony of the Cotai Strip in Macau March 1, 2007.
