CYPRUS: City of Dreams casino resort to open in 2021

The “City of Dreams Mediterranean” integrated casino resort, licensed to Asian investors, will be operational by 2021, earning EUR 700 mln a year for the Cypriot economy, the project’s operator Joint Venture ICRC said on Tuesday.

The joint venture, Integrated Casino Resorts Cyprus (ICRC), composed of Melco Resorts & Entertainment and The Cyprus Phassouri (Zakaki) Limited (member of the CNS Group) presented the finalised plan on Cyprus’ first integrated casino resort during an event held at the presidential palace.

The project is expected to be completed by 2021 and will cost EUR 550 mln to build.

President Nicos Anastasiades said that the casino resort “due to its size justifiably is included among the biggest projects in our country.”

He said the project fully secures the government’s aims, mainly the setting of the highest standards to protect vulnerable groups from gambling, the improvement and enrichment of the Cyprus tourism product, as well as the reduction of its seasonal nature, while generating fiscal revenue supporting the industries associated with the casino and to create new jobs and attract investments.

Energy, Commerce, Industry and Tourism Minister Yiorgos Lakkotrypis said the project will constitute the biggest investment ever made in Cyprus.

Lawrence Ho, Chairman and CEO of Melco, said with City of Dreams Mediterranean, Melco is expanding its flagship brand name outside Asia for the first time, adding that the project in Cyprus is a top priority for the casino operator.

Ho said in statement that Cyprus’s first integrated resort “will place Cyprus on the world tourism map and attract visitors, not just from the surrounding region, but also from the whole of Europe and around the world.”

According to the ICRC, the EUR 550 mln project is expected to create 4,000 jobs during the construction period and 6,500 direct, indirect and induced full-time jobs in Cyprus when the resort is fully operational.

City of Dreams Mediterranean will be developed in western Limassol, is designed in the Mediterranean style and will be built according to the principles of sustainable development. It will be Europe’s biggest integrated casino resort, with gaming areas of a total of 136 tables and 1,200 gaming machines, a five-star hotel with luxurious villas and 500 hotel rooms, 11 restaurants and cafeterias, a wellness centre, a sports centre, an extensive pool area with river woods and surf pools, a high-end retail area and an outdoor amphitheatre with extensive green areas. Also, in order to attract conference tourism, City of Dreams Mediterranean will offer 9,600-sq. metres of MICE facilities with a convention expo centre.

By the first half of 2018, a temporary casino will operate in Limassol until the casino resort is completed. The project also includes the operation of four satellite casinos in Nicosia, Larnaca, the Famagusta area and Paphos.