EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Macao, a special administrative region of the People’s Republic of China, is located on the Southeast coast of China and to the west of the Pearl River Delta region. This paper will mainly look at the tourism and gaming industry, which is considered as one of the key industries of the economy of Macao. With the newly established Government of the Macao Special Administrative Region, the emphasis and the direction of Macao’s development are its tourism, gaming, and conventions and exhibitions will be the “head” and the service industry will be the “body” driving the overall development of other industries. By looking at three successful gaming cities, Monte Carlo in Monaco, Atlantic City in New Jersey and Las Vegas in Nevada, this thesis proposes a new model for Macao’s development strategy, based on three strategic vectors capable of diversifying demand while safeguarding stability for economic growth. The Macao model is derived from contrasting Macao's specific cultural and gaming advantages and associated brand with three dimensions of future demand: distinctiveness and sophistication (the Monte Carlo effect), meeting center (the Atlantic City effect) and entertainment, excitement, for all (the Las Vegas effect). Besides reviewing the basic notions of destination management, the study shows advantages and difficulties in implementing the model while providing an in depth review of each of the three proposed vectors.