{"id":151191,"date":"2025-08-04T15:23:08","date_gmt":"2025-08-04T22:23:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=151191"},"modified":"2025-08-04T15:23:08","modified_gmt":"2025-08-04T22:23:08","slug":"indias-macau-city-of-dreams-sri-lanka-opens-to-global-visitors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2025\/08\/04\/indias-macau-city-of-dreams-sri-lanka-opens-to-global-visitors\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018India\u2019s Macau\u2019 \u2013 City of Dreams Sri Lanka opens to global visitors"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Gambling Insider<\/small><\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

Melco and JKH launch South Asia\u2019s first integrated resort, highlighting Sri Lanka\u2019s regulatory reforms and regional potential.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n
\"city<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Key points:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

– $1.2bn investment by John Keells Holdings and Melco Resorts<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

– Sri Lanka aims to become a regional gaming and tourism hub<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

– New gaming legislation enabled formal licensing and international entry<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sri Lanka has officially opened its largest private sector development on 2 August with the launch of City of Dreams Sri Lanka<\/a>, a project valued at over $1.2bn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Located in Colombo, the resort is a joint venture between local conglomerate John Keells Holdings and international casino operator Melco Resorts & Entertainment. It is being described as South Asia\u2019s first integrated resort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The complex includes two luxury hotels, Cinnamon Life with 687 rooms and N\u00dcWA with 113 ultra-luxury rooms, as well as a Melco-operated casino, 17 dining venues, a high-end retail promenade, event spaces and residences. The resort was designed as a complete lifestyle and tourism hub positioned to attract travellers from India, China, Russia and the Middle East.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the opening event, Melco Chairman and CEO Lawrence Ho<\/a> said Sri Lanka had the opportunity to serve the Indian market in a similar way to how Macau serves ChinaAs, as quoted by The Island.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He noted that the country\u2019s proximity and stability made it an attractive destination for high-value tourism, particularly as the region lacked comparable integrated resorts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Good to know: Sri Lanka passed formal gaming legislation<\/a> earlier, establishing a regulatory framework that was a key requirement for international operators like Melco<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

JKH Chairperson Krishan Balendra said the project\u2019s development spanned over a decade and involved more than 500 local contributors. He added that the formal legal structure gave international investors confidence and allowed the partnership with Melco to materialise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Balendra described the project as a strategic move to position Colombo as a premier location for entertainment, meetings and business travel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Gambling Insider Melco and JKH launch South Asia\u2019s first integrated resort, highlighting Sri Lanka\u2019s regulatory reforms and regional potential. Key points: – $1.2bn investment by John Keells Holdings and Melco Resorts – Sri Lanka aims to become a regional gaming and tourism hub – New gaming legislation enabled formal licensing and international entry Sri […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-151191","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-business"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151191","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=151191"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151191\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=151191"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=151191"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=151191"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}