Imagine a strip of land just over a kilometer and a half long, where replicas of the greatest architectural symbols of Europe have appeared in just two decades. Here, the Eiffel Tower stands next to Big Ben, and gondolas with singing gondoliers glide under the windows of Venetian palaces. This is the Cotai Strip — a man-made marvel that transformed Macao from a modest Portuguese colony into the gambling capital of the world, which in terms of revenue has surpassed its prototype, the Las Vegas Strip, by five times.
History of the Birth of Macao`s Gambling Industry
At the end of the 1990s, there was no land at all where the Cotai Strip stands today — here the waters of the Sek Pai Wan estuary lapped, separating the two islands of Taipa and Coloane. In 1968, a causeway connected them, but the real transformation began after the Macao government made a historic decision in 2002: to abolish the centuries-old monopoly on the gambling business and open its doors to foreign investors. The first and main player was the American corporation Las Vegas Sands, which brought not only capital but also a concept — to create an exact copy of the famous Las Vegas Strip in Asia.
The idea was simple and brilliant: to fill in the estuary and build a strip of mega-resorts on the reclaimed land. Land reclamation work began in 2003. Soil and sand were brought in by barges from the seabed, gradually transforming the water surface into solid ground. This land did not exist before — it was created by people, meter by meter wresting territory from the South China Sea. In August 2007, the first and most grandiose complex — The Venetian Macao — opened, forever changing the face of Macao.
Companies from Las Vegas — Wynn Resorts, MGM Resorts — followed suit, and by the mid-2010s, the Cotai Strip had become the most densely built and most expensive entertainment strip on the planet.
Today, the Cotai Strip is not just a road; it`s a trademark owned by Las Vegas Sands and a collective name for an entire cluster of ultra-modern resorts spread over 6 square kilometers of reclaimed land. It concentrates more than 60% of all gambling revenue in Macao and about 60% of all five-star hotel rooms in the Special Administrative Region.
Europe in Miniature on the Cotai Strip in Macao
Unlike Las Vegas, which drew inspiration from images of ancient Egypt or medieval castles, the Cotai Strip took the path of creating cohesive European worlds.
The Venetian Macao opened this era. A massive complex covering an area of 945,000 square meters, with 3,000 rooms, 1,000 gaming tables, and 4,000 slot machines, greets guests with a facade inspired by the Doge`s Palace in Venice. Stepping inside, you enter St. Mark`s Square, covered by a true-to-life sky dome painted with clouds.
The main magic of The Venetian is the Shoppes at Venetian. A shopping arcade built along actual canals, where gondoliers in striped shirts sing Italian songs. The ceilings are painted with a blue sky that creates a special atmosphere. Time loses its meaning here — the neon lights of the shops reflect in the water, and it feels as if you are truly strolling through Venice, not under the open sky, but beneath an eternal festive firmament.
A little further down the Cotai Strip in Macao, gleaming with glass facets, stands The Parisian Macao, which opened in 2016. Its main landmark is the famous Eiffel Tower, built at a 1:2 scale, standing 162 meters tall. The hotel`s facade is styled after the Paris Opera House, and inside, guests find the Shoppes at Parisian. Here, boulevards bear the names of famous Parisian shopping streets, and the display windows of luxury boutiques stand alongside streetlamps and little balconies seemingly taken straight from the old quarters of the French capital.
Next to The Parisian Macao is The Londoner Macao, which opened after a massive rebranding in 2021. Its facade is a majestic replica of the Palace of Westminster and the clock tower everyone calls Big Ben. The tower`s height is 96 meters, the same as the original in London. At the entrance, guests are greeted by sculptures of guards in tall bearskin hats and red double-decker buses. The Shoppes at Londoner shopping arcade transports visitors to a typical London street with cobblestone pavement and hazy lampposts, where you can grab some fish and chips in an authentic pub.
Empires of Entertainment: Wynn, City of Dreams, and Other Giants
But the Cotai Strip in Macao is not just the Sands triad. Competition here has spawned true wonders of architectural thought.
City of Dreams, opened in 2009 by Melco Crown Entertainment, is a futuristic complex where the towers of the Crown Towers, Grand Hyatt, and the famous Morpheus (a Zaha Hadid project) form an architectural ensemble more reminiscent of a space station than a hotel. City of Dreams is famous not only for its casino but also for its theatrical and circus shows, the main one being the legendary aquatic performance, The House of Dancing Water. The shopping area, The Boulevard, is filled with exclusive boutiques and restaurants in the SOHO district.
Wynn Palace, opened in 2016, embodies the aesthetic of Steve Wynn. The approach to the hotel greets guests with a phantasmagoria of color and movement: a massive musical fountain, synchronized to classical music, shoots dozens of meters into the air. Inside is a kingdom of flowers and luxury: the famous "Flower of Desire" Ferris wheel and installations made of tens of thousands of fresh flowers, which change with each season.
Galaxy Macau is a city within a city, concentrating hotels of the most prestigious brands: Raffles, Banyan Tree, JW Marriott, and Ritz-Carlton. Galaxy`s main draw is the grandiose Grand Resort Deck water park with artificial waves, white sand, and a rooftop heated pool, allowing guests to luxuriate in the water while gazing at the skyscrapers of the Cotai Strip.
Two Faces of Macao: Past and Future
Old Macao, with its Portuguese cobblestones, the Ruins of St. Paul`s, and the aroma of egg tarts, is the soul of the city, its history and culture. A stroll through its narrow streets is essential to understanding the journey this corner of China has taken. But the engine that turns the wheels of modern Macao is located right here, on the Cotai Strip.
The gambling industry has become the main driver of the tourism sector. According to Fitch Ratings, in 2025, Macao received a record number of tourists — 40 million people — and revenues from the mass-market gambling segment exceeded the 2019 level by 14 percent. Today, the gambling business contributes more than 43 percent of the region`s gross product and tens of billions of dollars annually, leaving Las Vegas and Singapore far behind.
The Cotai Strip is a pure, polished-to-perfection fantasy of Europe, built with American money and Chinese passion for gaming. It is a place where, in a single day, you can have breakfast with a croissant under the Eiffel Tower, have lunch in a London pub, and in the evening glide on a gondola under the arches of a Venetian palace. The Cotai Strip represents a unique urban planning project, realized on reclaimed land that did not exist before the early 2000s. Over two decades, this area has transformed into the world`s main hub of the gambling industry, where the largest casinos and luxury hotels are concentrated.
