Lawrence Ho, chairman and CEO of Melco Resorts & Entertainment, recently paid a call on Cyprus tourism officials, explaining to them his immediate and long-range plans for gaming in the Greek-controlled republic.
According to the Cyprus Mail, Savvas Perdios, the nation’s first dedicated tourism minister, said the Hong Kong-listed company’s first integrated resort, City of Dreams Mediterranean, will be of paramount importance to tourism on the island. When it opens in 2021, it reportedly will be the largest integrated resort in the world. Perdios was sworn in on January 2 by Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades.
Melco and its Cypriot partner Cyprus Phassouri (Zakaki) Ltd. have a license to build and operate a primary resort in the city of Limassol and four satellite casinos around the republic. A temporary Limassol casino opened last summer, and last month, the developers opened satellites in the capital city of Nicosia and at Larnaca International Airport. All three facilities operate under the Cyprus Casinos or C2 brand.
Perdios called the project “an important contributor” to the nation’s tourism industry and will help to make Cyprus a “popular and must-visit destination.” Ho said the Mediterranean island nation “has all the prerequisites to enhance its reputation as a regional and global premium destination” and to “emerge as a genuine point of reference for luxury tourism and responsible gaming.”
Travel and tourism accounted for 22.3 percent of the Cyprus economy in 2017, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council. Revenue from tourism rose 2.3 percent in the first nine months of 2018 to 2.27 billion euros (US$2.6 billion).
Once it’s open, City of Dreams is expected to bring in 300,000 international visitors each year and contribute €700 million (US$795 million) to the local economy. The Mail reported that Cyprus broke tourism records last year, with more than 3.9 million international visitors, up 7.8 percent from 2017. Most of the visitors came from the U.K., with Russian and Israeli visitors rounding out the top three. There was also a surge in the number of Swedish visitors in 2018, up 12.5 percent year-on-year.
