In the last few years, Macau has become the biggest Asian region in terms of economic and tourist growth due to the huge investments received in the fields of gambling and casinos.

The casino industry has exploded in Macau since 2001, when the government terminated the monopoly run over the industry until that moment by Chinese businessman Stanley Ho, which permitted the arrival of prestigious foreign operators such as MGM, Las Vegas Sands, Australia’s Crown and Hong Kong’s Galaxy among others.

Since then, the gambling business in Macau has been unstoppable; in fact, the earnings generated during 2006 reached 8.83 billion dollars. Meanwhile, in Las Vegas, the earnings generated by the industry during the same period were estimated in 8.09 billion dollars, based on that, analysts say that Macao is the new world gambling center.

Macau’s tourist operators are hoping that the casino boom will work as a platform for the launching of the region as one of the world’s most popular places to visit by tourists. In fact, during 2006 Macau received the record number of 2 million tourists and it is estimated that this year the number of tourists coming to the region will increase even more.