A resort in the Greek-controlled half of Cyprus has apologized after staging a mock terror attack intended to promote its casino options.

Last week, guests at the First Choice Holiday Village Aliathon in Paphos were shocked when their evening meal was interrupted by a group of men wearing dark clothes who burst into the restaurant and began firing guns into the air.

The men turned out to be resort staff firing cap guns but, coming just two days after ISIS-inspired terrorists attacked the Istanbul airport in nearby Turkey and four days from first anniversary of the Tunisian beach terror attack, the hotel guests could be forgiven for thinking this was the real thing.

The Sun quoted a group of British tourists who claimed the men were supposed to be perceived as ‘gangsters’ and that the stunt was intended to promote the resort’s ‘casino night.’ The hotel’s management has apologized for the boneheaded promotion and vowed that there will be no further incidents of this sort.