Τhe opening of the City of Dreams Mediterranean multi-thematic casino-resort in Zakaki is being moved to the end of 2022. Just last month (February), the Integrated Casino Resorts Cyprus secured an extension from the government until 30 September 2022 to complete the project. As the Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer of Melco, Lawrence Ho told "Entrepreneurial Limassol", "the pandemic has adversely affected the progress of construction work and will therefore take additional time to complete the project".

The authorisation initially granted required that the project be completed by 31 December 2021. But the suspension of construction work during the first lockdown in spring 2020 overturned the timetables, with the ICRC consortium, consisting of Melco Resorts & Entertainment Limited and Cyprus Phassouri (Zakaki) Limited, a member of the CNS Group, asking the government for time credit, on the basis of a new plan to progress the work it has submitted.

The casino - resort in numbers

The implementation of the largest tourism development in Cyprus, started in 2017 and its total cost is expected to reach €650 million. The City of Dreams Mediterranean will become, when completed, the largest multi-themed casino-resort in Europe. It will include a 7,500 sq.m gaming area, a 16-story five-star hotel with 500 rooms and suites, 11 restaurants and cafes, luxury shops, wellness center, sports center, adventure park, swimming pools and outdoor amphitheatre.

The City of Dreams Mediterranean will also have a conference-exhibition centre of 10,000 sq.m. The project is expected to attract 300,000 additional tourists a year and promote Cyprus internationally as a conference destination. It is estimated that it will create around 2,400 permanent jobs at the start of its full operation. After its second year of operation, the casino-resort is expected to contribute about €700 million per year to the Cypriot economy, which represents about 4% of the country's annual GDP.