Cyprus‘ intention to finally bring a brick-and-mortar casino to its shores took another significant step after reports indicated that the country’s undersecretary to the President took a trip to Las Vegas to talk with the city’s five casino companies to gauge their respective interests in investing a casino resort in the Mediterranean island nation.
Online news site NewzUp.net reported that Constantinos Petrides, together with Cyprus Tourism Organization chairman Alecos Oroundiotis, is currently in the good ‘ol US-of-A to conduct a series of meetings with casino operators and the objective is as clear as it is simple: build a casino in Cyprus!
The news report also indicated that the operators expressed a modicum level of interest in Cyprus’ push but stopped short of giving a concrete promise unless the Cypriot government sticks to its agreements with international lenders to ensure that the country’s economy comes out of its deep recession “relatively” unscathed. Another hurdle the casinos reportedly told Petrides was the latter issuing a guarantee that the entire vetting process is done in full transparency with no political land mines in its way.
In addition to the reported sit-downs with representatives of the casinos, Petrides also took time in his trip to Sin City to hammer out meetings with Nevada authorities in an attempt to learn more about building a legal framework on casinos, especially regulations that would be put in place to ensure success for the industry without the social repercussions that come with it.
The trip to Las Vegas is the latest indication that the Cypriot government is serious about finally putting a casino in the country. Last July, the country’s Cabinet unveiled plans to grant one license for an integrated casino resort on the island, something government spokesman Christos Stylianides said at that time as important to the growth of the island’s tourism, and in a broader scale, important to jump-starting the economy.
A few months later and it appears that the wheels are being set in motion towards that finally happening.
