Liking Las Vegas: UAE delegation visits to explore business, tourism opportunities

Wynn Resorts' $5.7 billion resort in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is changing the landscape of Ras Al Khaimah, by adding a nearly 1,200-foot resort tower overlooking the Arabian Gulf.

The project is also changing how the country views the gaming industry.

With roughly a year before the opening, officials from the emirate came to Las Vegas last month to explore potential business partnerships with companies and tourism leaders.

"Tourism is the fastest growing sector at the moment, which could triple its contribution to our [gross domestic product] over the next decade," said Carel Richter, an adviser on international relations to emirate ruler Sheikh Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi. Almost three-quarters of the UAE's population adheres to Islam — a religion that considers gambling a harmful activity.

When completed, Wynn's casino will encompass just 4 percent of the property's overall footprint of 5.6 million square feet. But Wynn Al Marjan will have 1,542 hotel rooms and suites and 22 high-priced villas with beachfront access, 22 restaurants and lounges and retail and meeting spaces.

"The emirate is a growing business hub and Wynn has been a catalyst for this expansion," Richter said. 

In addition to Las Vegas, the group had scheduled visits with officials in New York, Florida, Michigan and Utah. Ras Al Khaimah representatives believed they could learn from U.S. tourism leaders, government officials and economic development representatives on how to create business opportunities.

In a statement to the U.S.-UAE Business Council, Richter said the visit was the first time representatives from different Ras Al Khaimah entities traveled to the U.S. together "with the aim to present one unified integrated ecosystem."

The Wynn project, which has kept its construction timeline in place despite the ongoing Middle East conflict, drew the group to Las Vegas, where it held meetings with Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority CEO Steve Hill and Las Vegas Mayor Shelley Berkley and members of the business community. The delegation did not provide other names.

Hill said the group's focus during his meeting was a developing tourism industry, which is being led by the Wynn project.

"They're kind of stepping into this in a big way," Hill said. "They were looking for thoughts on how to structure things, putting on trade shows or sporting events. We're happy to answer those questions, particularly when we have hometown folks who are doing business there."

Hill suggested Las Vegas could benefit from Wynn's opening as well, since "it's accepted and understood that Las Vegas is at the top of that [tourism] pyramid." 

A UAE customer base could be "very attractive to Las Vegas, "Hill said. "It's a pretty similar place to Las Vegas. People want to come here and experience it and we would like to make it easier to get to Vegas from that region. The more reasons you have to make that connection, the easier it is to sell those flights."

Southern Nevada was just one stop in a multistate visit last month by the representatives from Ras Al Khaimah to discuss the emirate's fast-growing economy that will expand its presence through Wynn's opening as the first casino-resort in the UAE. 

"We have road infrastructure improvements and we're looking at building 45,000 housing units," Richter said, touting the emirate's effort to ease access to the resort. One of the projects includes a quarter-mile long bridge connecting Wynn Al Marjan Island with the main highway to create a link between the resort with Dubai and other northern emirates.

"Beyond real estate we're growing across many areas. The manufacturing sector is growing," Richter said.

Berkley said her impression was that the delegation sees opportunities to develop business connections with the city and Clark County beyond the emirate's ties to Wynn. She introduced the group to the city's economic development team.

"It wasn't just a courtesy visit," Berkley said. "I think they came here to learn and to get the information they need to take back to their country," adding she got the impression top officials from the UAE would visit Las Vegas sometime next year. 

"Anything they do in Southern Nevada would be a benefit to all of us," Berkley said.

A Wynn spokesman declined comment on the delegation's visit and whether or not it was part of any meetings.

During a keynote discussion at the Global Gaming Expo (G2E) last month, Wynn CEO Craig Billings confirmed comments he made in August that the Middle East conflict with Iran added $600 million to the company's project for increased costs associated with shipping and building materials.

"We missed one day of construction," Billings said in reference to areas of the UAE being hit by missiles. "The emirates have done just an incredible job from a security perspective. Life on the ground in the UAE is completely normal. Consumer supply chains are completely normal."

Billings called changes in supply chains and rising shipping rates "just the realities of the market. From our perspective, it's super straightforward. Get open [and] start earning."

In a note to investors published ahead of G2E, Wolf Research gaming analyst Peter Supino compared the pending one-casino UAE market with Singapore, which has two gaming properties — Marina Bay Sands and Resorts World Sentosa Island. 

According to Gaming Intelligence, Singapore gaming revenue topped $5.5 billion in 2025, a 24 percent increase from the previous year. Analysts estimated Marina Bay Sands was responsible for more than two-thirds of that total. 

Supino cited research showing the UAE's upcoming hotel room supply through 2030 was classified as luxury. 

"One-third of the world's population lives within a four-hour flight of the UAE," he wrote. "Benchmarking against Singapore, another wealthy limited license casino market popular with tourists, suggests Wynn's Al Marjan could beat UAE gaming revenue targets."