From Fish, Shrimp, Crab to the Development of Las Vegas and Macau

- Celebrating the Super Bowl's Arrival in Las Vegas in February 2024. Discover the city's remarkable transformation journey and draw inspiration for realizing Macau's future development plans.

INTRODUCTION

As the steps of the Year of the Jia Chen Dragon draw near, our thoughts inevitably drift back to those Lunar New Years of the past when the streets were exceptionally quiet. To alleviate the boredom and restlessness of children, adults would bring out various board games for entertainment. Among these, the game of "Fish, Shrimp, Crab" stands out in my memory for its thrilling gambling fun that stimulated our thinking and quickened our heartbeats.

THE TRANSFORMED LAS VEGAS

Over time, the gambling industry has evolved into a significant component of the global economy, accounting for 0.56% of the global GDP. In the United States, for instance, the industry contributed 0.46% to the national GDP, with Las Vegas generating an economic income of $75 billion in 2023. However, evaluating a city's achievements involves more than just its income. Las Vegas before 2000 serves as a prime example:

• The gambling industry often had a negative image, particularly with the potential for addiction.

• In Hollywood movies, the gambling city was synonymous with sin.
  

The transformation of Las Vegas since 2000 has been a journey of metamorphosis. The "2050 Development Plan" was formulated in that year. The plan aimed to shift the city away from being solely gambling-focused by enhancing urban connectivity, investing in city design, and actively introducing international sports events, thereby enriching the city's cultural life and economic vitality. The plan addressed several major bottlenecks in Las Vegas's development path:

1-City Brand

• The public's negative perception of gambling and betting significantly impacted the city's ability to establish a livable brand.

• For this reason, organizers of major events, especially those emphasizing a healthy and positive image, tended to avoid association.

• Fans worried that gambling interests might manipulate the outcomes of major sporting events held in Las Vegas.

2-Population Size

• In 2000, the permanent population of Las Vegas was only 1.3 million, a relatively small market size.

Las Vegas has seen initial success in developing a positive tourism brand for the city. Recent figures show that the percentage of tourists under the age of twenty-one visiting Las Vegas with their families increased from 5% before the pandemic to 16% in 2023.

The city government heavily invested in urban design, ensuring that new large-scale projects were flexible enough to accommodate different types of events. The government also focused on improving urban connectivity to reduce road congestion, thereby lessening the impact of major city events on the daily lives of permanent residents.

Thanks to the city government's determination to transform the city's brand, the permanent population has surged from 1.4 million in 2000 to nearly 3 million by 2024, making it attractive to large corporations that value market size.

As the city's liveability improved, it attracts more celebrities to live in Las Vegas, including well-known retired athletes who became investors, fostering local sports teams.

The city hopes that hosting sports events will add new economic strength. Las Vegas has always actively bid for various large-scale competitions, though often in vain. Until around 2000, boxing was essentially the only event outside the gambling industry that succeeded, a reflection of the city's early history. Through persistent effort, Las Vegas has gradually attracted major events, such as winning the bid to host the Grand Prix in 2023 and the unprecedented "Super Bowl," which is expected to bring an economic benefit of $500 million to the city.

MACAU TO TRANSFORM

After years of decline due to the pandemic, Macau has once again surpassed Las Vegas to become the city with the highest gambling revenue in the world, as reported by The Wall Street Journal on August 19, 2023.

The development bottlenecks faced by the city were similar to those of Las Vegas in 2000, and Macau is also seeking to transform itself into a more diversified, livable city.

The efforts in Las Vegas have led to nearly an 180% increase in its population over twenty years; similarly, Macau's total population is expected to rise rapidly due to the potential of the Hengqin region.

Macau's hotel industry has long trained a large number of high-standard service personnel, ensuring that hosting international events only requires early additional training to meet requirements.

Naturally, in terms of regulations, seamless cooperation is essential to ensure all events can proceed compliantly, inevitably attracting more enterprises to host international events.

Besides attracting a large number of locals and tourists to events, the realization of Macau's long-term vision (including healthcare, modern finance, high-tech industries, traditional industry transformation and upgrading, MICE business, and cultural and sports industries) requires attention to several key points:

• Further improvement of the city's connectivity is necessary to minimize inconvenience to the public during events, allowing both visitors and local residents to save time on transportation and spend more time outside the event venues. The entire city's transportation design must start with integrating technology, such as intelligent transportation systems.

• Systematic, large-scale, standardized education and training of key industry personnel are crucial. For example, attracting quality universities from both domestic and foreign markets, drawing talented individuals from Southeast Asia to study; in terms of on-the-job training, ultimately, industry personnel must pass accreditation courses under a qualification framework, ensuring international enterprises can be confident in the quality of local talent support.

• For small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that interact closely with locals, newcomers, tourists, and business travelers, it's vital to adopt a global perspective and innovate in their offerings. Business owners, whether seasoned or just starting out, should consider workshops aimed at cultivating a big-business mindset. Such programs can be a great first step in elevating the city's SMEs to meet international standards of service and innovation.