Macau doesn’t want to be known as just the world’s biggest gambling hub. The Chinese city is the only place in the Asian country where casino gambling is legal. In 2019, before the COVID pandemic, Macau’s gaming industry generated $36 billion in revenue, three times as much as the U.S. state of Nevada, home of Las Vegas. The sector was connected to over half the city’s GDP, and employed 17% of the city’s roughly 600,000 residents.

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But the city’s government wants to diversify its economy. When casino licenses were up for renewal last year, Macau’s six gaming operators had to promise the government that they would expand non-gambling offerings and attract more foreign tourists.