Cyprus Dreams
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Craig Ballantyne, Property President, City of Dreams Mediterranean meets with Damien Connelly
ity of Dreams Mediterranean will be the first fully fledged integrated casino resort in Europe when it opens in 2021. Melco won the tender to operate this property. This integrated casino resort is on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus, which is located at the crossroads of Europe, Africa and Asia. Cyprus is a member of the European Union (EU), has a stable government, a growing economy, and a very robust tourist infrastructure that includes international airports and cruise ports. Its 2018 inbound tourist numbers (almost 4 million) were over 3x the island’s population. In terms of European weather, Cyprus is as good as it gets with winter temperatures averaging
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17C (63F), summer 32C (89F), and average sunshine exceeding 10 hours each day for six months of the year. Craig Ballantyne is the Property President for City of Dreams Mediterranean. To state that Craig knows casinos is an understatement. I met Craig recently in London to discuss developments at City of Dreams Mediterranean, how the Cyprus government is adapting, as well as the opportunities for economic and tourism development facing the island from such a large investment program. With an estimated investment of €555 million (US$630 million) for Phase One, City of Dreams Mediterranean is an excellent example of ‘green field’ Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). Based on data from the United Nations Conference on Trade And Development, Cyprus’ 2017