Limassol – Cyprus President, Nicos Anastasiades, laid the foundation stone for City of Dreams Mediterranean, the largest casino-resort in Europe, last Friday.
The €550 million casino resort, which will also include a hotel, a convention centre, a retail area and a golf course, will be constructed in Zakaki in the west of Limassol.
With a gold-plated spade in hand and framed by Melco’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Lawrence Ho and CEO of the CNS Group, Melis Shacolas, Aanstasiades spoke of a “historic day” and “major milestone” for Cyprus.
“Today, marks a major milestone for Cyprus and I cannot but feel extremely satisfied of what the joint collaboration of the public and private sectors has achieved: To fast-track the necessary procedures so as by 2021, Cyprus’ first integrated casino resort, a landmark for Cyprus but also for the wider region, will be fully operational,” he said.
The casino resort will contribute €700 million or 4% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to the economy from the second year of being fully operational, the President told ministers, MPs, members of the business community and other VIP guests at the event.
Anastasiades said the casino constituted the biggest investment project undertaken in Cyprus and explained that City of Dreams Mediterranean is at the heart of the government’s new strategy for tourism by 2030.
He also pointed out that Cyprus has all the prerequisites to establish itself as a world priority destination, an authentic reference point for luxury tourism and Responsible Gambling, noting that the casino resort will have multiple benefits for the Cypriot economy, and a positive impact on GDP and in tackling unemployment.
The gaming area at the casino is set to span across 7,500 sq.m. with about 1.200 gaming machines and 140 tables. Over 9.600 sq.m. will be for convention, meeting and event spaces and 1.200 square meters of a retail area replicating the feel of the old Nicosia city centre.
The casino is expected to create around 4.000 jobs annually during the construction period and eventually contribute to the creation of approximately 6.500 direct, indirect and induced full-time jobs in Cyprus when the resort is fully operational.
Until then, a temporary casino is set to begin operating in Limassol starting from 28 June 2018, less than a five-minute drive from the resort on Franklin Roosevelt Avenue, named Cyprus Casino or C2. Once the resort begins operations in 2021, the temporary casino, whose expenditure has been over €12m, will close down and personnel will be transferred to the resort.
An additional four satellite casinos will operate across the island this year in Nicosia, Paphos, Larnaca and in Ayia Napa.
The resort is set to attract 300,000 tourists a year, offsetting seasonal tourism.
In his address at the event, Lawrence Ho said that already, some 500 people had been recruited of whom 75% were locals.
“The ceremony marks the beginning of the construction of City of Dreams Mediterranean, Europe’s largest integrated casino resort and Melco’s first expansion outside Asia,” he said.
Ho described it as a “significant milestone as it will be the first authorised casino in Cyprus,” with emphasis on responsible gaming.
“I am honoured and grateful for the trust the Cypriot government has placed in Melco and CNS to carry out this ambitious and exciting project. Today, we are not just laying the foundation stone of the integrated casino resort but also entering a new era for Limassol and for Cyprus as a whole.”
Ho hinted that Melco would not hesitate expanding the casino resort with more land from the surrounding area, primarily for non-gaming purposes, depending on how well the project fared.
The president of City of Dreams, Craig Ballantyne said they anticipated a lot of clients from the UK, Germany, Russia and Israel which are already strong markets for tourism to Cyprus.
The payroll once the resort opens its doors is expected to be €74m per year.
“In a few years, you will not recognise the west of Limassol,” Ballantyne said.
