Casino giant Caesar’s Entertainment has announced the start of construction on its first non-casino luxury resort, in the Chinese holiday destination of Hainan.

The Caesars Palace Longmu Bay will be a 5-star resort with 1,000 rooms, a Las Vegas-style attraction which will set a ‘global luxury standard’ in China.

The first phase of the project is expected to cover a total of five square kilometers, Caesars confirmed September 27, with a planned opening date of 2014.

Costing some 36 billion yuan, it will combine a hotel with restaurant from celebrity and Michelin-rated chefs serving both local and global cuisine, along with two huge entertainment venues.

Attractions planned include a marina, spa, shops and a 36-hole championship golf course, complete with golf school run by what the company describes as a ‘legendary pro’.

It’s the latest in a series of developments that Beijing authorities hope will turn Hainan into the region’s premier tourist attraction.

The island is a designated tax-free region and also offers the other key ingredients of a world-class destination: sun, sea and sand.

While many hotel chains are heading for the area, Caesar’s main Las Vegas rival, MGM Resorts, is set to herald the arrival of the Vegas firms when it opens its property in Sanya, the MGM Grand Sanya, later this year.

Like the Caesars Palace Longmu Bay, the MGM Grand Sanya will also be MGM’s first non-casino property, with 675 rooms, seven restaurants, several pools and a high-end retail arcade.