"Europe's largest casino" is being built by Melco in Cyprus

A ceremony will be held on June 8 to celebrate the start of construction work on what is being billed as "Europe’s largest casino" in Cyprus. With more than a hundred gambling tables and over a thousand slot machines, the casino will be located in Limassol and is set to begin operating in 2021.

In the meantime, a temporary facility is set to operate until works are completed on the City of Dreams Mediterranean casino-resort.

The project is being led by Melco Resorts and Entertainment, one of the biggest developer, owner and operator of casino gaming and entertainment casino resort facilities in Asia.CEO Lawrence Ho told reporters at a news conference in Macau on Tuesday that the revenue generated by the casino, estimated to bring in an additional 300,000 tourists a year, is expected to generate four percent of Cyprus’ GDP.

“We are very happy and fortunate that we won the competitive bid for the license in Cyprus,” he noted. The project is estimated to cost $647 million and to create approximately 4,000 jobs during the construction period. When it is fully operational, the casino is expected to generate nearly 4,500 direct and indirect full-time jobs.

The integrated resort will include a luxury hotel with more than 500 five-star rooms, suites and villas, 11 restaurants and bars, as well as around 1,200 square meters of retail area designed to replicate the streetscape of the old Nicosia city center.