Hotel and Casino Resorts

LAS VEGAS - APRIL 13: A general view of the Rio Hotel & Casino April 13, 2006 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)Hotel and casino resorts are riding the crest of a wave that sees them raking in billions of dollars every years. And tourists are lapping up the all-inclusive ease of a holiday at one these sprawling hotel and casino complexes set in some of the most exotic and beautiful places on earth.

For well over half a century, Las Vegas was the undisputed global gambling capital. The Las Vegas Strip mirrors America's fast-living, high spending culture and spawned the concept of the hotel and casino resort complex, so much so that these are now frequently termed "Las Vegas-style hotel-casinos'.

But recently Las Vegas's dominance of the international casino resort scene has come under huge threat, from a very unlikely source...

Macau is a tiny 28-km squared peninsula of Mainland China, but by 2006 it had surpassed the Las Vegas Strip in gambling revenues. To browse hotels and casino resorts in Macau, which is fun even if you're not going anytime soon, check the Macau casino listings.

In general the whole of Asia could make a concerted push to build hotel and casino resorts to compete with the rest of the world, while Europe is still home to some of the oldest, most beautiful casinos in the world.

The Caribbean is a hugely popular gambling destination, and hotel and casino resorts can now be found dotted around most of the islands in this region.

South Africa also boasts a thriving casino industry, led by the phenomenal Sun City resort.

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