Thanks to its free-port status, Macau has traditionally been a shoppers' paradise for gold jewellery, wine and antiques, and the potential addition of a sales tax in Hong Kong is being viewed by Macau as 'a gift' to its retail sector.
With the addition of multiple luxury retail arcades, the spending opportunities for high-rollers and their bored non-gaming travel companions have increased a thousand-fold from just two years ago.
Despite the rapid development, Macau still has its traditional shopping areas of Senado Square and Red Market, but the focus now is on the burgeoning luxury retail scene and the people who are expected to make it thrive.
'The China customer is the highest spending tourist [per capita] in the world on retail outside of their country. We expect people will just come here to shop,' David Sylvester, the Venetian Macao-Resort-Hotel's vice-president of retail, says.
For Hong Kong residents who already know their local malls inside and out, Mr Sylvester appears to be spot on, with day-trip shopping excursions offered through concierge services and travel agents.
In 2005, with the casino landscape rapidly changing, a survey published by Midland Realty stated that Macau's retail rentals rose 30 per cent year-on-year, though Morgan Stanley strategist Rob Hart cautioned this April that supply of space will outstrip demand in the next three years.