“People who come to our country to gamble in our casinos do not bring much benefit to the country outside of the realm of taxes,” he said. According to Eroğlu, accusations by the UK and other European nations that casinos in the KKTC are money-laundering operations are imposing further stress on the ailing tourism sector.
Finance Minister Ersin Tatar, speaking on the issue noted that casinos make about $15-20 million annually and that hotels reserve about 70 rooms specifically for customers who have come to gamble. Minister of Tourism, Environment and Culture Hamza Ersan Saner revealed that 450,000 tourists visit the island annually and that 110,000 of them are not citizens of Turkey or Cyprus. He added that if each person spent $200, they would contribute about $2 billion to the tourism industry. The income generated, however, only totals about $440 million, according to Saner.
This shows that tourists do not usually interact with the economy and prefer to spend their time inside their hotels, according to Saner. A hotel manager in Cyprus speaking to Today’s Zaman made the following remarks regarding this phenomenon. “For example, the Kaya Artemis Hotel is 60 kilometers from the city, and it would cost TL 300 [$200] to get to the city center. Why would anyone staying there take a trip to the city?” revealing that incentives for tourists to venture outside of their hotels do not exist. The fact that many hotels welcome their frequent gambling customers with a private vehicle, taking them directly to their hotel’s casino, also does not contribute to solving this problem, showing that some tourists come specifically to gamble.
Shop owners in northern Cyprus are claiming that the biggest hurdles in being able to do business with tourists are casinos. Abdullah Erişik, a shop manager in Lefkoşa, stressed that he is not able to make much of an income out of the roughly 500,000 tourists visiting the island annually because of tourists’ unwillingness to step outside their hotels.
Dilek Koraltan, the owner of an antique shop, revealed that she closes her shop early because she has no business, adding, “Why would we close our shops early if we had business?”
Saner, speaking about discussions that he had with managers of various hotels, noted that many gamblers are now moving away from northern Cyprus as a gambling hotspot and preferring countries such as Bulgaria due to the KKTC government’s heavy measures against possible money laundering schemes in northern Cyprus’ casinos. Speaking on the issue, Saner noted, “I don’t believe that [money laundering] occurs in casinos.” The head of the sales and marketing department at the Merit Crystal Cove Hotel in Girne, Çağlayan Sarıgül, also spoke about claims that casinos are to blame for the poor performance of the island’s tourism. Sarıgül revealed that his hotel has private vehicles that specifically transport customers who want to shop, countering claims that they are purely focused on keeping customers within the hotel. Speaking about shop owners, he stated that they also need to take part of the blame for the dismal tourism industry. “Whenever there is a holiday or a day when tourists would visit the island, all of the shops are closed. It is also difficult to find a shop open after 6 p.m. or even on the weekends.”
