Melco aiming to help Sri Lanka with City of Dreams Sri Lanka project

Melco’s City of Dreams aims to leverage the increasing interest and financial capability of Indian tourists. Although Indian tourists traditionally spend less on casinos than their Chinese counterparts, the partnership with John Keells is expected to bolster the project’s success.

John Keells, a veteran in the leisure and hospitality industry, operates around 2,500 rooms across Sri Lanka and the Maldives under the Cinnamon brand. The City of Dreams development will feature a casino and 113 ultra high-end hotel rooms. Melco will operate the casino, which is expected to begin operations by mid-2025.

Speaking at its latest earnings conference call, Lawrence Ho, our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, explained that City of Dreams Sri Lanka will be the first integrated resort in Sri Lanka and South Asia and is expected to revolutionize luxury hospitality, entertainment, and leisure in Sri Lanka, presenting an extraordinary architecture and design and a collection of iconic and unparalleled offerings including 800 hotel rooms, retail, food & beverage outlets, MICE facilities, and much more.

Providing some further insight into the deal during the company’s 1Q24 earnings call, Melco Chairman and CEO Lawrence Ho said he saw Sri Lanka becoming to India what Macau is to China by tapping into its enormous population base and growing economy.

Mr. Ho said: “My view is that Sri Lanka can be to India, what Macau is to China. Having looked at the Indian gaming market, I don’t think anything is going to come of it for the next decade or so. And with the rising Indian economy and the wealth creation, Sri Lanka is by far the closest gaming jurisdiction to India. John Keells is one of the it is the biggest list of conglomerates in Sri Lanka with over 150 years of history. The building that they’ve built is truly magnificent. It’s a $1bn building. So I think for us, $125m is a small bet for a potentially huge opportunity. I don’t think there is any published data on the size of the gaming market. So far, there’s two operators in the market with four casinos, but those are all very local.”

“We will be responsible for the fit-out and operations of the casino, which we expect to open in mid-2025, while the City of Dreams Sri Lanka Integrated Resort itself is expected to open in the third quarter of 2024. This is a landmark development in Sri Lanka and we’re thrilled to participate in this opportunity. This is a capital light investment with an attractive return profile, allowing us to expand the City of Dreams brand and broaden our customer reach.

Mr Ho added: “I’m excited to announce that we have hired Tim Kelly as Property President of City of Dreams Macau. Tim was most recently President at Atlantis Global for Kerzner International based in Dubai and has achieved great success in building the Atlantis brand since joining them in 2017. He has a unique blend of skills and experience that we believe positions him perfectly to lead this next chapter of City of Dreams, and I would like to welcome him to the Melco family.”