"There is probably room for ten Las Vegas throughout Asia"

Adelson was speaking at a news conference marking the start of construction of its 3.2 billion-dollar Marina Bay Sands integrated resort (IR) scheduled to open here in 2009.

Adelson said there was no "integrated resort" in Asia offering entertainment and casino attractions like the two Singapore is planning.

"Now perhaps ten is not the answer; maybe it’s eight, but the point is that the market in Asia is so fertile and there’s never been a destination resort ever nor has one ever been thought of, with all the entertainment elements of an integrated resort such as here in Singapore," he said.

Led by the southern Chinese enclave of Macau, Asia is witnessing a gambling boom as the region looks to new, glitzy Las Vegas-style casino complexes offering entertainment and exhibition venues to attract more tourists and business travellers.

Macau, a former Portuguese colony, has overtaken the famous Las Vegas strip as the world’s top gambling destination by revenues, with earnings last year soaring 22 percent to a whopping seven billion dollars. Las Vegas Sands was the first foreign gaming firm granted a licence to operate in Macau.

Singapore in 2005 lifted its longstanding ban on casino gambling and last year awarded two licences - to Las Vegas Sands and Malaysia’s Genting International to build two gaming resorts. The two projects are the lynchpin of Singapore’s efforts to spice up its appeal to tourists as well as beef up its position as a regional venue for business conventions.

"The development of the IRs is a significant strategy to boost our tourism industry," said Mah Bow Tan, Singapore’s minister for national development. "The two resorts will serve as important engines of our leisure sector, creating spin-offs for the tourism industry and the overall economy."

Las Vegas Sands’ project, which is one of the world’s largest investments for a single integrated gaming resort, is expected to inject an extra us$ 1.8 billion to the local economy and create 30,000 jobs by 2015, said Mah. With its heavy emphasis on convention facilities, it will boost Singapore’s reputation in the business meeting market, known also as MICE - meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions.

The Marina Bay Sands resort, which can accommodate over 2,000 exhibition booths and up to 50,000 delegates, aims to draw at least 600,000 MICE visitors in its first year of operations.