Cyprus a small nation island is divided since 1974 as a result of a civil war between the Greeks and the Turks.
Tourism
Historically, Cyprus has been a favorite holiday destination for Europeans mainly UK as well as Russians. Also some neighboring middle eastern countries – namely Israel & Lebanon see Cyprus as a preferred holiday destination (just 30 minutes’ flight from Tel-Aviv & Beirut). There is a well-developed tourism infrastructure supported by 2 international airports, numerous hotels, resorts, holiday homes, marinas as well as a well-developed road infrastructure.
So what is changing?
The Republic of Cyprus is working on a large scale tourism infrastructure project – Integrated Casino Resort or in short ICR. This mega-project (Cypriot size) will include hotels, casino, large convention & Conference center as well as a Marina.
The initial estimated investment in the project is forecasted at Euros 500 million and the Cypriot government is offering the winner/s of the tender a BOT under a 30 years’ license for the Casino.
Cyprus is somewhat a “special case” when it comes to establishing an Integrated Casino Resort. The according to Horwath research are:
- This would be Cyprus’ first ever legal casino (there has been a long-standing opposition by the Greek Orthodox church against legal gambling)
- The competitive environment in the region makes the development of a Casino in Cyprus very feasible attracting gamblers from Greece, Italy, Israel, Lebanon, The Balkan states, Russia, Ukraine as well as other European countries”1
In March 2016 the 3 preferred bidders for the ICR were chosen. Nagacorp Cambodia, The Philippines-based Bloomberry Resorts Corp and a consortium of Melco Macau and Hard Rock Resort Cyprus.2
But that’s not the only good news for the Cypriot tourism industry. The current political tensions between Russia and Turkey, has made millions of Russian holiday makers look for alternatives for the Antalya beaches.
British and Germans are also actively looking for alternatives due to the increased terror threats for western tourists in Turkey, Egypt and Tunisia.as the famous saying goes: “someone’s misfortune is someone else’s opportunity”
According to a most recent statement on Bloomberg news made last week, the Cypriot Tourism Minister – Georgios Lakkotrypis – is quoted to have said: “We are having, and we will have a fantastic year”. He also added: “We need to make sure this growth is sustainable”.3
If all goes according to estimates and hopes (mind you, it seldom does…), the reunification talks will end successfully by the end of this year. In that case, the united Island of Cyprus will enjoy a huge tourism development potential.
I clearly see need for many more internationally branded hotels both in cities and beach resorts, tourism attractions, shopping malls and on the more local level restaurants, bars, nightclubs.
So if you are in development role for a lodging group, I strongly suggest that you pay notice to Cyprus
4 hoteliers