Billionaire's adviser visits

Dan Raviv, adviser to casino mogul Sheldon Adelson, relaxes during his visit to Dunedin to check...
Dan Raviv, adviser to casino mogul Sheldon Adelson, relaxes during his visit to Dunedin to check the progress of an NHNZ documentary about the building of the Venetian Macao Resort. Photo by Linda Robertson.
Dan Raviv, adviser to one of the world's richest men, travelled 31 hours to reach Dunedin this week so he could watch a one-hour documentary.

The documentary, part of the NHNZ-produced series Man-Made Marvels, featured the construction of the $US2.4 billion ($NZ3b) Venetian Macao Resort, the largest casino in the world.

"I was very impressed by the documentary,'' Mr Raviv said.

The resort, run by Mr Adelson's Las Vegas Sands Corporation, became China's first Las Vegas-style casino when it opened in August 2007, and is the largest casino in the world.

Mr Raviv decided to visit NHNZ and Queenstown as part of his four-day stay, before leaving the country yesterday.

Mr Raviv, who was visiting New Zealand for the first time, travels the world looking for "opportunities''.

"It took 31 hours to travel here. It was worth the trouble because it is so beautiful,'' he said.

While he was impressed with Dunedin and Queenstown, Mr Raviv said the New Zealand market was too small for the company, which specialised in "the integrated-hotel industry''.

The Venetian Macao Resort, on the Chinese island territory of Macau, included casinos, hotels, retail areas and convention spaces.

The company had embarked on a multi-billion-dollar rollout of other large-scale hotels in Asia.

"The future for us is in Asia,'' he said.

At just 28sq km, Macau had been transformed into a gambling destination, Mr Raviv said. "The potential is enormous.''

A former television correspondent with Israeli television, Mr Raviv said he was attracted to the Las Vegas Sands Corporation because "of the dream of Sheldon'', who is worth an estimated $US28 billion ($NZ35 billion).

The son of Jewish immigrants, Mr Adelson had gone from selling newspapers to buying the former Rat Pack hangout, the Sands Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.

Mr Adelson also donated millions to medical research and funded trips for young Jews to Israel "to discover their birthright'', Mr Raviv said.

"He is 74 but he keeps on going, like a dynamo,'' he said.

The documentary, part of a six-part series produced for the Discovery channel, is expected to screen overseas later this year.

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