City of Dreams Mediterranean officially opened for business this week after five years of planning, building, and outfitting guests for the high-end adventure of a lifetime in Europe’s largest and only integrated casino resort.

The sheer mass and design elements of the building seem to indicate it would be visible from several miles away with a shape reminiscent of a Mayan temple or a well-known tourist landmark in the Middle East, Sheraton Doha. On might even recall A Cancun casino resort.

Despite the similarities in aesthetics from a distance, City of Dreams is much different – inside and out.

Casino Gaming in a Luxury Environment

While a Mayan temple at Chichen Itza may or may not hold grand treasures, the only way most people will leave this property with a small fortune is to enter it with a large one – lady luck notwithstanding.

The hotel has 500 rooms in a range of luxuries and price points but each room is fresh and the accouterments are unique to the property. The development in toto is the first in Cyprus to achieve a BREEAM Excellent rating for its sustainability strategy beginning at the design stage.

Architecturally, the development was recently honored by the European Property Awards 2023 for achievements in three categories: Best Hotel Architecture Europe: Best Sustainable Commercial Development Europe, and finally, Best New Hotel Construction & Design Cyprus.

Once you get beyond the strategically placed palm trees and massive pool complex, expect high walls of marble to greet you indoors.

Options include a visit to a diamond boutique, relaxing in a cozy chair and trying on high-end wristwatches, or sorting through designer clothing in one of the retail outlets.

While the description may sound like a world away, the design elements are all tied together with local geo design elements like cobbled floors and paths outdoors, plenty of greenery on the pathways to the largest pool complex in the Mediterranean along with cool blues and other hues that tie it all together and meld it with the local environment.

If you are itching to simply know about the gambling experience, that element needs to be put in its proper context as this is an integrated resort as much as it is a casino surrounded by “distractions”. However, expect to find a modest number of slots – 750, and a modest number of gaming tables – 75. How and where the machines and tables are placed is unique with a mixture of banks of machines and scatters of machines throughout some table gaming areas.

Table game options include the following:

• American Roulette
• 3 Card Poker
• Mini Punto Banco
• Baccarat
• Blackjack
• Casino Stud Poker
• Russian Poker
• Texas Hold’em
• Ultimate Texas Hold’em
• Omaha

City of Dreams Mediterranean offers gaming in a luxury resort setting rather than obligatory distractions surrounding a money pit to capture revenues. It seems to be designed holistically.

Full days could be spent exploring everything from zip lines to obstacle courses, climbing walls, and trampolines.

Several eateries and other amenities opened on Monday following a soft opening earlier. Expect a few more food, drink, and entertainment venues to open strategically over the coming days, weeks, and months to help keep the property front and center in the minds of visitors and potential visitors.

Not All Is Paradisical Below the Surface

Union organizers and members are upset about policies that seem to be working against employees exercising collective bargaining to get their fair share of the profits that will be left n the machines and on the tables by visitors from all over Europe and the larger world at the Cyprus resort casino.

One union decided to cancel a planned protest at the request of the Labor Minister who had asked organized workers to “refrain from confrontation”. However, another union decided to go ahead with plans to hold a small protest at the property on opening day.

According to local media reports, the problem is systemic and major rather than specific terms of employment, compensation, or benefits for employees at this point. Cyprus Mail reports that Peo Union (Syxpa-Peo branch Neophytos Timinis) would not “back down” until assurances were given that representatives of the union would be given access to the property.

Both Peo and Deok assert that management in the form of Melco, forbids access to union activities in the workplace and will not allow efforts to unionize workers.

Predictably, perhaps, Melco called the protests “unfounded and poorly timed” an obvious reference to opening day. The opening and ongoing success of the casino is important to Cyprus meeting its goals of becoming a well-known tourist destination so it’s no wonder Labour Minister Yiannis Panayiotou has involved himself directly in the dispute.

On that issue, a Deok union representative said that the labor minister’s intervention would be a turning point towards “fully implementing Cypriot laws and the constitution, that set in stone union liberties.”. With that, Deck union canceled its planned protest.

“The operator of the resort casino needs to realize that its business activities are conducted on the territory of the Republic of Cyprus and it should stop behaving like a state within a state, disrespecting the legal order of its host state,” Deok noted.

Peo union indicated talks were ongoing out of public earshot, but it would hold the course until City of Dreams Mediterranean allows the union access to the resort to work on unionizing employees.

“The how and where can be agreed later, with the minister’s help,” a Peo union rep purportedly told the Cyprus Mail.

Source: The City of Dreams Mediterranean casino resort officially opens on Monday, Cyprus-Mail, July 9, 2023

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Melco Cyprus has received an extension of its target opening date for its City of Dreams Mediterranean to June 30, 2023, still within its earlier stated target date of Q2 2023. When transitioned from the current temporary casino to the permanent venue the resort with gambling is expected to be the largest integrated destination resort in Europe as well as the most highly sought location.

While construction continues, the company is currently operating three permanent satellite casinos and a temporary casino which will cease to exist when the main site opens its gaming floor.

According to a report in the local Cyprus Mail, the operator is well aware of the outsized impact a successful integrated resort will have on helping to develop the island’s tourism industry which was one of the main reasons it was approved to become the first and only casino resort on the island when a license was approved in 2017. Other operators may apply for future tenders after a 30-year moratorium expires on the granting of additional licenses.

The acknowledgment of the operator’s responsibilities to the Cypriot community was expressed by senior vice president of casino sales and marketing, Grant Johnson at a recent event that marked the 5-year anniversary of the first-ever casino license issued in the country since it was divided by a UN Blue Zone from the Turkish-occupied northern part of the country following a 4-week war in 1974.

Illegal Casinos Operate Outside of Cyprus-Proper

Several casinos operate in northern Cyprus, in a sort of gray zone seemingly exempt from Turkey’s strict laws against gambling. Other pop-up and temporary casinos also operate briefly in the Blue Zone where laws have been easily manipulated and unlicensed operators can scoop in loads of cash before being shut down by laws that are difficult to enforce and prosecute.

At the event, 57 of the original employees of the licensed operation were awarded plates to commemorate their early service to the resort. Johnson said that Melco would continue to work toward assuring the country would become a global business and entertainment destination.

“Melco Cyprus is managing the temporary casino in Limassol and three satellite casinos in Nicosia, Ayia Napa, and Paphos, while at the same time developing the City of Dreams Mediterranean resort-casino, a project that aspires to be a game-changer in the island’s tourism industry,” according to an announcement from the company.

Speaking directly to team members at the event, Johnson said: “Five years ago, City of Dreams Mediterranean was a distant dream, but now we are just months away from opening.

“You have helped us grow this organization and another 2,500 colleagues will soon join our team and follow in your footsteps,” he added.

He also noted that the company and team seek to help create a sustainable future for Cyprus.

Former President Visited in February

Last month, Melco hosted former Cyprus president Nicos Anastasiades at the Limassol resort.

Anastasiades said at the time: “The creation of a multi-thematic resort was one of the government’s goals since we know that its creation would contribute towards enriching our tourist product, increasing tourist arrivals and creating new jobs, with obvious benefits for the Cypriot economy.”

According to a recently released Unaudited Fourth Quarter 2022 Earnings Statement and comments by the company’s director, Lawrence Ho, the company is currently struggling with pandemic-induced losses but the temporary casino in Cyprus has surpassed 2019 revenues and City of Dreams Manila is catching up. The company was also granted a new 10-year concession for its gambling and entertainment properties in Macau.

For all outfits Cyprus operations, the company had operating revenue of US$28.7 million during the fourth quarter of last year, compared to US$22.4 million in the fourth quarter of the previous year. The company’s fourth quarter Adjusted EBITDA of US$10.5 million for Cyprus operations nearly doubled those of the previous quarter.

The company kept $5 of every $100 put into slots in the last quarter of 2022 compared to $5.10 in 2021 bit volume was up this year from$30.5m in Q4 2021 to $38m in the fourth quarter of 2022,

Source: Cyprus can become a global tourism and entertainment destination, Cyprus-Mail, March 5, 2023

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