From Hotel News Now – If all goes according to plan, ground will break before the end of this year for Europe’s first gaming mega resort, with investors envisaging a $6-billion project covering almost 1,500 acres with six casino-hotels totaling 18,000 rooms.
Dubbed BCN World, the project, which is an hour’s drive south of Barcelona on the Mediterranean Sea, is expected to open in 2016.
It is just the latest of a number of mega resorts planned around the world over the next few years, including one in Madrid.
“Mega resorts are nothing new except in Europe,” said Ivar Yuste, partner at Madrid-based consulting firm PHG Hotels & Resorts. “The idea is to create a destination where there is nothing and where land is cheap.”
Singapore, Macau and South Africa already boast mammoth gambling or leisure meccas of this type, and others in planning stages or under construction include Resort Paracurú Beach in Brazil, Baha Mar in the Bahamas, the Asian-themed Resorts World Las Vegas and Oryx Island in Qatar.
Now it’s Europe’s turn.
“BCN World is in a great location. Disney was considering that same area in the region of Catalonia for its European theme park before deciding on Paris. Not choosing Catalonia was a big mistake on its part,” Yuste said.
“Spain is the perfect choice for this as it is already a major tourist destination and consistently ranks as the second in world in tourism revenue after the United States.
“It is still the ‘Florida of Europe’ with great weather, excellent tourism infrastructure and political stability,” he said.
In May 2013 year-to-date hotel performance metrics, Spain showed modest growth, increasing 1.3% to 60.5% in occupancy; rising 1.4% in average daily rate to €81.79 (107.23); and rising 2.7% to €49.52 ($64.92) in revenue per available room.
