KUALA LUMPUR, June 23 — Genting Berhad’s latest investment, the US$4.3 billion (RM17.86 billion) Resorts World mega-casino on the Las Vegas strip, is set to open its doors to visitors this week, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported.

The mega project — which will feature 3,500 hotel rooms, 117,000 square feet of gambling space, 250,000 square feet of meeting space and a mammoth 5,000 seat theatre — is said to be one of the largest projects ever erected on the famous stretch, placing itself within the league of luxury resorts like the Bellagio or the Venetian.

"We’re so lucky to be opening at this time. We were going to open one way or another.

"We planned this a year and a half ago. We announced the date. But things are clearly improving in Las Vegas,” said president of Resorts World Las Vegas, Scott Sibella.

The report detailed how Genting had purchased the site of the project from Boyd Gaming Corp back in 2013 for around US$350 million (RM1.4 billion), which at that time was an unfinished project known as the Echelon Place.

Boyd’s project according to WSJ was itself supposed to be iconic, but the 2008 economic recession caused construction for Echelon Place to be stalled, before Genting’s acquisition of the site.

As vaccination rates increase across the United States and pandemic restrictions are slowly lifted, WSJ reported that around 2.6 million people visited Las Vegas in April this year, a number that peaked at 3.6 million visitors before Covid-19 struck.

Despite many still reeling from the economic effects of the pandemic, WSJ’s report includes how Resorts World’s launch is scheduled to coincide with the US Independence Day on July 4, with Miley Cyrus’ opening performance beamed across the resort’s 100,000 square foot LED screen overlooking the Strip.

It also detailed how Genting had initially envisioned an Asian themed resort complete with a live panda exhibit, but these plans were later shelved as they instead opted for clear, brightly lit walkways within the hotel which will feature three of Hilton Hotel’s brands.