Gamble on Cyprus Property

For those overseas property investors looking to gamble on Cyprus property, the island is about to become even more attractive.

A contract for Cyprus’ first integrated casino resort, the only one of its kind in Europe, was signed on Monday in Nicosia between the gaming authority and the Melco Hard Rock consortium.

The project will involve an investment of €500 million, and is expected to attract more than 300,000 extra tourists per year to the island, increasing demand for accommodation and making it less of a gamble to buy property to rent in Cyprus.

Over 4,000 jobs are also expected to be created by the integrated casino project which will have the main casino based in Limissol, with four further satellite casinos in Nicosia, Larnaca, Famagusta and Paphos.

The main casino itself will be the largest in Europe with 136 gaming tables, 1,200 gaming machines, a luxury hotel with 500 rooms with the capacity for expansion, a conference hall spanning 6,000 square metres that can accommodate audiences of 1,500, and a wellness centre covering 4,000 square metres.

Energy Commerce and Tourism Minister for Cyprus, Yiorkos Lakkotrypis, said: ‘Total investment is expected to exceed half a billion euros and is estimated to create more than 4,000 jobs during the construction phase and the same number during operation.’

He continued: ‘This is undoubtedly, a project that will enrich our tourism product, attracting an additional 300,000 tourists annually and contributing significantly to combating seasonality.’

Both the satellite casino in Nicosia and a temporary casino in Limassol – until the full casino is ready – are expected to be up and running this year.

Lakkotrypis continued: ‘Our goal is the improvement of incoming tourism, increasing arrivals, and average spending per capita, and also to see this contribute to the ongoing efforts to address the problem of seasonality in the Cypriot tourism industry.

‘Our other strategic objective was the creation of new jobs and additional tax revenue, supporting sectors that will be associated with the casino, and attracting further foreign investment.’

For UK overseas property investors keen on Cyprus, the gamble may now be worth taking.