Latest Proposal for Hengqin Island: Galaxy Entertainment Resort

Galaxy Entertainment has unveiled plans for $1.6bn casino-less resort to be built on the up-coming Chinese Hengqin Island, which is going under major redevelopment.

The Island, which is located just offshore to the thriving Chinese gambling region of Macau, is being groomed by the Chinese to become an exciting tourist destination; although there won’t be any casinos there.

China wants to turn Hengqin into a diversified tourist hub that will pretty much have everything you want in it except for the gambling, because that stays in Macau. The proposal came as a surprise to gambling news outlets, as Galaxy Entertainment currently operate a series of casinos in Macau.

Galaxy is taking the opportunity to offer tourists a different sampling of their brand that doesn’t involve any sort of gambling.

Latest addition to the island

China seriously intend to turn Hengqin into a bustling tourist location, so the move by Galaxy could preempt plans from competitors, including Las Vegas Sands, who actually ditched their own $1 billion project in Hengqin years ago. The resort will join a number of attractions that are already in place on the island, including a marine-themed resort. More developments are expected with a new $1.3 billion University of Macau campus in the works, as is a separate hotel, office, and residential project. All in all, over 50 projects with a total investment of $36.5 billion are already in the pipeline for Hengqin with Galaxy Entertainment being one of them. For now, Chinese poker rooms will wait across the water in Macau.