The Nicosia Chamber of Commerce (EVEL) yesterday met with the city’s brass and other players to exchange views on how to boost tourism where it was decided to set up a steering committee to actively pursue the licence.

Mayor Constantinos Yiorkadjis and his predecessors were also at the meeting, which was held at the Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry building. Yiorkadjis said that currently, only 5% of all tourist arrivals stay in Nicosia.

All sides agreed that Nicosia was best placed to host a casino resort, the licence for which is expected to be ready in Spring 2015.

EVEL president Costas Georgallis said the capital was best placed geographically, and being located in the centre of the island, Nicosia was the heart of the business and political communities and had the population to sustain a casino all year round.

Also, Nicosia, hesaid, was only 20-25 minutes from Larnaca airport, “while in the event of a Cyprus solution, it would also be a stone’s throw from the ‘now illegal’ Tymbou-Ercan Airport,” he said.

Georgallis said Nicosia had enormous potential for tourism development, with its rich museums, galleries, monuments and strong historical and religious heritage, dining, entertainment and a family environment. A casino would attract an entirely new type of tourist, one who would not come just for sea and sun, he added. Those tourists only filled a six-month period, he said.

Having the casino in the capital would also discourage those Greek Cypriots who already travel north to gamble.

Land prices to build in Nicosia would also be lower compared to creating a resort elsewhere.

“Nicosia has lower rents compared with similar rentals in coastal areas with opportunities for increased profitability of such a project resulting in the ability and increased tax revenues for the government,” Georgallis said. “Therefore the investment in a non-coastal area may be the most financially viable solution for creating a casino”.

The steering committee’s first step will be to drum up finances for a feasibility study into hosting the casino in the capital.
 “We believe that Nicosia has the critical mass in terms of population that is needed,” said Yiorkadjis.

The government said last month that the licences would be ready next Spring for an integrated resort in one district plus two more branches, or satellite casinos in two other districts.

On coming to power last year, the government asked the Cyprus Tourism Organisation (CTO) to update a 2007 study into the creation of casinos to help them decide on the form they would take – whether they will be accompanied by other development projects.

The original CTO study into developing casinos predicted annual revenues for the state of between €35m and €50m, as well as a significant boost in employment opportunities.

Source: Cyprus Mail