Melco Targets Mid-2022 Opening of Cyprus Casino Resort

Cyprus’ first integrated casino resort is set to open doors in the summer of 2022, property officials confirmed last week.

Hong Kong-listed gaming and hospitality company Melco Resorts & Entertainment is currently building the luxury complex in the Cypriot City of Limassol.

The resort will feature a 14-story, five-star hotel with more than 500 rooms and suites, a casino with slot machines and table games, around 10,000 square meters of conference and exhibition space, an outdoor amphitheater, an adventure park, fine dining, and multiple retail outlets.

City of Dreams Mediterranean will include a special retail promenade that would pay homage to the old town area of Cyprus’ capital, Nicosia.

Melco has also said that it would plant 130,000 new trees and indigenous species of flora around the property to create a holiday oasis for guests and reduce carbon emissions.

The luxury complex recently received BREEAM Excellent rating for its sustainability strategy. It has become the first building in the tiny Mediterranean republic to be recognized by the world’s leading and longest established method of rating and certifying master planning projects, infrastructure, and buildings based on their focus on sustainability.

Melco is set to invest more than €550 million into what would be its first integrated resort outside Asia.

Opening Pushed Back to Summer 2022

The gambling and hospitality company broke ground on the project in 2018. The property was expected to be completed and launched in late 2021 but its opening had to be pushed back due to construction delays caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Property officials recently confirmed that they now target summer 2022 opening.

Cyprus’ Tourism Minister, Savvas Perdios, last week toured the site and said that when it opens doors next year, City of Dreams Mediterranean would mark a defining moment for the island nation’s tourism as it would create an all-year destination.

Fighting seasonality and easing Cyprus’ dependence on summer tourism has been one of the main goals put before the country’s Tourism Ministry when it was established in early 2019. And City of Dreams Mediterranean is expected to help it in achieving that goal.

Minister Perdios said last week that tourism was among the nation’s hardest hit industries by the pandemic but still remains the backbone of the Cypriot economy. He went on that they are now focused on “rebuilding traveler confidence, enhancing Cyprus’ competitiveness and encouraging innovation” and that Melco is “without a doubt a key partner in this effort.”

Of construction progress, Minister Perdios said that work is “rapidly moving ahead, and the project is impressive, offering clear views of the area.”

In separate news, Melco has finally reopened its casinos in Cyprus after a six-month government-mandated shutdown. The company operates four facilities in four tourist-busy areas around the nation through its Cyprus Casinos (C2) brand.

Its venues in Limassol and Paphos closed on November 12, while the ones in Nicosia and Ayia Napa suspended their operations on November 30. All four opened doors for patrons on Monday morning as Cyprus begins to ease Covid-19 restrictions.

Source: City of Dreams casino confirms summer 2022 opening, Financial Mirror, May 9, 2021