Read this article in the latest issue of G3 Magazine here.
At its heart of the Piazza Project are four dedicated gaming zones; one for each of Aristocrat, IGT, Light & Wonder, and Regency itself, arranged around a central stage, 10-metre bar, and street food stand. The Piazza is designed to appeal both to the casino’s loyal slot players and to a wider audience attracted by concerts, DJs, comedy acts, cocktails, and culinary themes.
“We cannot live only with loyal guests and our 2–3,000 core customers, we are not a club,” says Yannis Kiossis, Director of Marketing & PR at Casino Thessaloniki. “For more than 10 years we have been undergoing a transformation into a multi-complex venue with theatre shows, restaurants, bars, and now the Piazza. Our positioning is clear: we are an entertainment destination, not a pure casino.”
Smoking ban catalyst
The origins of the Piazza Project lie in a challenge that hit Greek casinos hard. Although Greece first passed a nationwide smoking ban in 2009, strict enforcement only began in 2019, cutting deeply into slot play. “Smoking and gambling go together, especially in Greece,” recalls Kiossis. “After 2019, casinos lost 40 per cent of their revenues due to the anti-smoking legislation.”
Regency’s solution was to create outdoor covered pavilions where smoking and slot play could continue side by side. The first pavilion proved popular but quickly ran out of capacity. The Piazza takes this idea further, quadrupling the available space and introducing supplier-exclusive zones.
“It was always on our minds what to do next, but the investment was significant,” explains Kiossis. “The Piazza cost around €5m including the pavilions and staging. However, by partnering with Aristocrat, IGT, and Light & Wonder in a revenue-share model, we could deliver something unique without carrying the full machine cost ourselves. The vendors also have a strong interest in the project succeeding and have supported it internationally with marketing and events.”
A show-floor experience
For slot suppliers, the Piazza is a permanent branded showcase. Sign4U has delivered high-impact LED signage for each pavilion, taking advantage of the absence of height restrictions to create installations more akin to trade show booths than casino décor. Guests move from one pavilion to another as if walking between stands at ICE or G2E. Each area is filled exclusively with one supplier’s latest cabinets and games, including some first-to-market titles.
“It is the closest you can get to an exhibition environment in a casino,” agrees Kiossis. “Players are not used to selecting by brand, they choose by game. But now they are beginning to say, have you tried the Light & Wonder pavilion, or the Aristocrat pavilion? It is a different perception.”
Beyond gaming
While the pavilions are the anchor, the Piazza is designed as a rounded entertainment space. A central stage hosts concerts, DJs, comedy, and brand activations, while the long bar and food stand rotate themes from gyros to sushi nights. “For us, the non-gaming elements are essential,” says Kiossis. “Lefteris Pantazis (LePa), a famous singer for many years in Greece played on the second night of the official opening of the Piazza, drawing a crowd of over 6,000 people. We had 12,000 visitors across the opening weekend. If a group of five comes, and only two are players, the other three still have reasons to stay. That is our strategy.”
The casino already operates the Vergina Theatre indoors, with 450 seats filled for shows every Friday and Saturday, plus the casino offers multiple award-winning restaurants. The Piazza adds an outdoor summer-style dimension, extending the property’s reach across demographics and creating reasons to visit multiple times a week.
A mass-market approach
The target audience for the Piazza is deliberately broad. At one end are Regency’s core and VIP players, supported by a robust loyalty programme and an international marketing focus that draws visitors from Israel, Cyprus, Italy, Albania, Bulgaria, Romania etc. At the other end are locals who might come for a concert, a cocktail, or to enjoy the high-quality food offer.
“We are going for mass attendance,” stresses Kiossis. “We protect our core base through our extensive loyalty programme, but we also need to attract new guests. We are not Athens, Thessaloniki has fewer direct flights and far less winter tourism. That said, we are the market leader in Greece in terms of visitation and revenues, and we believe projects like this reinforce that leadership.”
Measuring success
The KPIs are clear: increased visitation, higher dwell time, and incremental slot revenues. Early figures are positive, with slot revenues in smoking pavilions running at up to double those in non-smoking areas, and attendance up more than 10 per cent since the soft opening in summer. “Yes, it was a risk, a big one,” admits Kiossis. “But our shareholders believed in the concept, and our partners believed in it too. We have delivered something unique in Europe, and it has already created international awareness for Thessaloniki.”
A model for the future?
Could the Piazza Project become a template for other markets? Kiossis thinks so. “I believe Athens will see collaborations with suppliers when the new casinos open there. I don’t know if they will be exactly the same, but there will be projects along similar lines. Other operators are already watching closely.”
If successful, the Piazza could signal a shift in how European casinos think about slot machine space: not as banks of machines, but as branded entertainment environments integrated with live events and F&B. “Las Vegas has long set the standard for combining entertainment and gaming,” concludes Kiossis. “The Piazza is our way of bringing that model to Greece, and perhaps of creating a new idea that others will follow.”
The post The Piazza Project – Regency Casino Thessaloniki reinvents the slots experience appeared first on G3 Newswire.
Read this article in the latest issue of G3 Magazine here. At its heart of the Piazza Project are four dedicated gaming zones; one for each of Aristocrat, IGT, Light & Wonder, and Regency itself, arranged around a central stage, 10-metre bar, and street food stand. The Piazza is designed to appeal both to the…
The post The Piazza Project – Regency Casino Thessaloniki reinvents the slots experience appeared first on G3 Newswire.