NICOSIA – With countries reaching out more to the ultra-wealthy for higher-class tourism, Cyprus is making its bid with the 300-million euro ($315 million) Aya Napa Marina that offers world-class facilities for yachts.

President Nicos Anastasiades said it will bring in tourists from around the Eastern Mediterranean as he inaugurated the grand opening of a project that was first imagined in 1993, taking 29 years to come to fruition.

He thanked lead investor Naguib Sawiris, an Egyptian billionaire businessman for helping make it happen “despite any setbacks he may have faced,” and the developers, Caramondanis Group, said The Cyprus Mail.

“As one can assess by being here, Ayia Napa Marina provides international world-class yachting facilities, luxurious residences and multi-purpose entertainment venues,” he said of its benefits.

He added that the marina sets “high standards in terms of environmental protection and the provision of smart services to ships and visitors,” as the only marina in the immediate region awarded an international certificate.

“The added value of such a development significantly strengthens the position of Cyprus in an increasingly competitive global environment, making it an ideal environment for both visitors and investors,” he said.

“Advantages that allow us to establish high-value projects such as the one we are inaugurating today, that create hundreds of new jobs and attract quality tourism, with consequent effects as regards the inflow of direct and indirect income,” he said, the report added.

Cyprus wants to reach out more to those who want to take advantage of its maritime tourism, develop more marinas along the coast and especially for superyachts preferred by high-spending oligarchs governments chase.