The Cotai Strip is the central area of Cotai, mostly known for its cluster of resort hotels and casinos. The term was first coined by Las Vegas Sands Corporation regarding its building of a strip of hotel-casinos in the Cotai section of Macau.
Cotai was the result of a major land reclamation project which joined the two islands of Coloane and Taipa and forms part of the Macau government's continuous efforts to expand the region's territory. The reclaimed land in Cotai was mainly used for casino developments and Las Vegas Sands Corporation envisioned that their development of several adjacent properties would comprise an area that would resemble the Las Vegas Strip, albeit on a considerably smaller scale.
Over the past few decades, the layout of the Cotai Strip has also slowly developed into a grid-like layout with major hotels and casinos such as Galaxy Macau, MGM Cotai, and Wynn Palace, not directly connected to the 'strip' as opposed to Las Vegas Strip where the majority of major hotels and casinos have front access to the strip.
Naming
The United States Patent and Trademark Office granted Sheldon Adelson's Las Vegas Sands Corporation a trademark on the term Cotai Strip. The name Cotai was formed by combining the first letters of the islands of Coloane and Taipa.
History
Creation
The Cotai Strip is a term coined by American Las Vegas Sands Corporation about its building of a strip of hotel-casinos in the Cotai section of Macau, a special administrative region of the People's Republic of China. The Cotai Strip was built upon a 5.2 square kilometer land reclamation site in the Seac Pai Bay of the Pearl River Estuary. The strip joins the formerly separate islands of Taipa and Coloane.
Galaxy Entertainment Group's Grand Waldo Hotel was the first casino to commence operations in Cotai, which commenced operations in May 2006. The construction of many other casino and hotel projects is currently underway. The largest and most notable property on Cotai so far is Las Vegas Sands' The Venetian Macao, which opened its doors on August 28, 2007. Melco Resorts & Entertainment Limited opened the City of Dreams directly across the street from The Venetian Macao on June 1, 2009.
Economic Crisis (2008-2010)
Due to the 2008 financial crisis, up to 11,000 construction workers were to lose their jobs as US gaming giant Las Vegas Sands cuts back its development in Macau. Stephen Weaver, Sands' president for Asia, said up to 11,000 workers will lose their jobs in Macau after the company halted building projects in the city such as the developments of Plots 5 and 6, previously Sands Cotai Central, now The Londoner Macao, on the strip. Las Vegas Sands had instead, focused its construction work on the Marina Bay Sands Resort in Singapore.
On 30 November 2009, Las Vegas Sands announced that it had secured $1.75 billion to complete its development of Sands Cotai Central, which was abandoned with 65% completed in mid-2008. Sands Cotai Central was completed in phases from 2012 to 2015 before being rebranded to The Londoner Macao in 2021.
No information was released about Plots 3, 7, and 8. These were very likely to be cancelled. Macao's Director of the Lands, Public Works, and Transport Bureau (DSSOPT), Jaime Carion, said on 5 December 2010, that the Government is now looking at developing non-gaming projects in Cotai. He stressed that the Sands China application procedure for Plots 7 and 8 was not fully complete and that the Government would announce the result at the most convenient time.
Galaxy Entertainment Group who was building Galaxy Macau had also stated that after having a very slow construction in 2009, it will try to get its first phase of development open in the first quarter of 2011. Phase 1 of the Galaxy Macau was eventually opened on 15 May 2011, followed by Phase 2 on 27 May 2015.
Recent Developments
The Plaza Macao, housing the Four Seasons Macao, opened a 40-story all-suite tower in October 2020. The tower, associated with the Four Seasons Macao, is branded as the Grand Suites at Four Seasons, comprising 289 suites. Sands Cotai Central was officially rebranded to The Londoner Macao when its first phase of rebranding works was completed on 8 February 2021. As of 2023, several new hotel-casinos have opened in Cotai, including the Grand Lisboa Palace and the Lisboeta Macau.