Winter tourism in  Ayia  Napa  is danger of  being wiped off  the map according to the resort’s mayor following  a government decision to abolish funding for sports tourism during the low season.

Once  a top hotspot destination in Europe for holidaying  clubbers,  the resort’s  tourism industry has faced stiff  competition  from rival destinations, prompting  Ayia Napa to seek to change its image to a more family-orientated destination.

Now Ayia Napa Mayor Antonis Tsokkos claims that cutting of sports tourism funding will be the final straw.

“ I believe that Ayia Napa will be crucially affected by this move because the area depends to a great extent on sports tourism during the winter period,”    he told. “ Between mid-January  and mid-March, some  Cyprus hotels  depend entirely on teams coming to areas like Ayia Napa to stay there and use the facilities . I  believe  that we have suffered enough and  I call  upon the CTO (Cyprus Tourism Organisation), the House  Finance Committee and the government in general not to cut our funding. Cutting off our funding will be the end of us.”

The Famagusta district receives yearly funding from the government to help them in their efforts to attract    football teams-in winter training –in their area.

A huge sports complex featuring around 16 pitches, plenty of hotels and mild temperatures make Ayia Napa  an ideal destination for football teams especially from northern Europe, Scandinavia  and Great Britain. But those facilities are now in danger og being left to rot warned  Tsokkos.

“We have already seen a wave of cancellations and this in turn runs the risk of hotels closing down in the area. A lot of these hotels and business depend  on winter sports tourism to survive so by cutting our funding they are effectively cutting off our life support machine.”

The Ayia Napa mayor also fears that the cancellation will have a knock-on effect that could damage tourism in the area irreparably.

“The cancellation of teams coming out here to train will also have a negative impact on winter tourism. Flights will also be affected from coming out here meaning that we will sec elderly tourists, especially from Scandinavia , looking elsewhere for holidays aboard.”

Around 20 teams were expected to fly into Cyprus this winter but around half look set to cancel.

Related posts:

Nicosia Municipality is seeking to involve its citizens in a bid to win the title of European Capital of Culture for 2017.It has to vie with two other Cypriot candidate cities, Paphos and Limassol, since only one from the island will be selected in 2013.

Mayor Eleni Mavrou officially announcing a Citizens` Participation Campaign in the candidacy project at a press conference in Famagusta Gate this week, invited the people of Nicosia to drop their ideas, thoughts and opinions in special boxes soon to be set up in the capital.

“We want participation to be part of reality for all: no idea can be spared, to the contrary, every idea is a contribution to development,” Mavrou said.

She also introduced a badge to be worn in solidarity to the effort bearing the inscription “Nicosia, the city of my heart” in Greek.

“This is our message, the Mayor said and added: “We would like each one to look at that piece of his heart that bears Nicosia` signature. We want to rely on this relationship and to create new itineraries, to dream, to plan and make the cities of tomorrow. Nicosia lies at the heart of this aim and we want through its candidacy to feed the creativity of the citizens and to activate the development mechanism.”

The logo for the European Capital of Culture candidacy was also presented, ahead of an official announcement today, Friday. Designed by Nicandros Ioannou, it refers to the history and evolution of Nicosia while symbolising its multiculturalism and openness.

Responding to questions about the competition with two other Cypriot cities, Mavrou said it was no coincidence that the selection process was so long – two years – and the preparation process twice as long.

She said that while the dialogue with the two other candidate cities continued about having only one candidate. Nicosia would pursue a dialogue with its citizens to boost its effort, without excluding any other local authorities, agencies or institutions.

The Mayors of Ayios Dometios and Aglandjia were also present at the press conference lending their support to Nicosia.

Asked if Nicosia was not at a disadvantage by not knowing how the city will be in 2017, Mavrou countered that the prospect of change was an advantage rather than a disadvantage.

“It could give an indescribable dynamic not only to Nicosia but to Cyprus as a whole and we all wish to witness this before 2017,” she noted.

The European Capital of Culture was launched in 1985 by Greek Culture Minister Melina Mercouri and her French counterpart Jack Lang.

Starting from 2011, two cities from different EU countries will be nominated each year. In 2017 Cyprus will share the title with Denmark. The current European Capitals of Culture are Tallinn and Turku, from Estonia and Finland. The selection is made by an independent panel of experts in the cultural field responsible for assessing the proposals.

Related posts:

Larnaca Tourism Board recently organised a meeting to intiate its “Cleaning Campaign in the Larnaca Tourist Area.”

The event was attended by representatives of the CTO, the Community Councils of Oroklini and Pyla the Municipality of Larnaca, the District Administration, the Department of Public Works and Larnaca Police.

During the meeting it was decided that a cleaning campaign, including cutting weeds and removing illegal billboards in major tourist areas, should take place from May 23 to 27.

The aims of the campaign are to clean tha tourist area of Larnaca, with a focus on the coast from Pyla to Larnaca, before the arrival of the summer tourists, and for the area to be monitored and discussed by local authorities on a regular basis.

Tour operators and tourists often comment that the areas are unsightly at a time when strenuous efforts are being made to upgrade and promote tourism in Larnaca. Therefore, the Larnaca Tourism Board appeals to all owners of tourist premises in the Larnaca district to make a special effort to raise awareness on how premises look, by removing signs and banners that not only impede access but also cause clutter and look unattractive.

Related posts:

The Limassol seafront was littered with more than 21 different associations, all non-government and non-profit organisations that came together on Saturday to take part in the NGO Special Fair, held under the auspices of Limassol Mayor Andreas Christou and the municipality. The atmosphere was fun and friendly, with the numerous bodies all eager to share information and offer assistance to the crowds who were happy to learn about their individual work.

The organisations represented included familiar names such as Friends of the Earth, Terra Cypria, Jeunesses Musicales, the Cyprus Family Planning Association and Cyprus Youth Council, as well as several lesser known groups, Life Motivated (fun therapy for hospitals), Peace Players and Homophobic society, 5 accept. The fair was a great success, offering Limassolians an opportunity to see how the individual organisations work and how they can help support local people.

The NGO Support Centre was established in December 1999. It was originally set up to support the development of civil society on both a local, national and international level. It has expended through the years to help provide consultancy and resources to other organisations to better develop so they can take their role as full partners in the socio-economic development of their society.

The NGO-SC activities include seminars, workshops and study visits. Its vision is for a strong civil society in Cyprus, an area which is traditionally weak, so events such as Saturday`s fair are seen as an important element of its work “the mobilisation of people and resources for the strengthening of the Civil Society in Cyprus is crucial” was how Christou addressed the NGO fair in his opening speech.

Providing consultancy and management training services and the development of transparent and democratic processes are also a major aspect of the NGO-SC activity, as well as enchancing inter-cultural dialogue and cooperation and advocating peace and reconciliation by rainforcing links with local and international NGO`s, decision makers and academics. The organisation` head office is based in Nicosia but details of their work can be found on the website: www.ngo-sc.org.

Related posts:

Alandmark printing house in the heart of Old Nicosia is now an algternative multi-purpose venue for corporate, social and artrelated events.

Called the Press House, the 600 sq m former Violaris printers on Voulgaroktonou Street, was officially opened on Wednesday.

“People like alternative function venues, and old Nicosia is and will be even more popular with corporate events,” property manager Michelle Kari of SFS group –the owners- told .

“The original idea was to be a much more artistic venue, with the space being rented out to artists yo set up studios. But due to the configuration of the building and other small obstacles we went for the multi-purpose idea, instead,” she added.

It coast about 200,000 Euro for the bi-level venue which still hosts an antique printing machine to be renovated.

On exhibit now are paintings by US- based Greek artists John V. Moraitis and Mary Papademas of Nicosia. Eclectic pieces of antique furniture are also on sale.

Separated into four different areas that can be hired out independently, the venue aspires to accommodate seminars, small scale corporate meetings and presentations, product promotions, conferences, gallery exhibitions, movie shows or even small theatrical plays. It can provide parking for a total of 120 cars-across and around the corner from the House.

Costas Kyrkos, also of SFS group, said the Press House is to act as a supporting facility for the small boutique hotel that will be built right across it.

In addition, another close -by trademark building- the Royal cinema which has not been in operation for years –was taken over by the group. The plan is to turn it into a much  bigger multi-funetion hall.

“Royal is very spacious and renovation is already under way. We expect it to be complete by October.” He also said.

Related posts: