Half a million euro is to be spent on upgrading the island’s beaches next year, Deputy Minister of Tourism Costas Koumis said on Tuesday.
“The beaches are undoubtedly one of our country’s comparative advantages, and we must protect them as a high value product,” he said.
The upgrades, he said, will be carried out on many aspects of Cyprus’ beaches, including their accessibility infrastructure.
He said this “is one of the elements that I believe every local authority must have high on its list of priorities”, and that for this reason, his deputy ministry is offering incentives for such upgrades to be carried out.
He was speaking at the launch of an initiative to clean 56 beaches across Cyprus.
The initiative, Tourism Cares: Unite For a Cleaner Cyprus, is taking place as part of the Cyprus Sustainable Tourism Initiative (CSTI)’s Keep Our Sand and Sea Plastic Free programme, which is being carried out in collaboration with tour operator Tui and its affiliated charity the Tui care foundation.
The tourism deputy ministry said the initiative’s aim is to “mobilise the hotel and tourism industry throughout Cyprus to take action against beach pollution”.
Koumis visited one of the 56 beaches being cleaned up, the Konnos beach in Protaras, alongside local mayor Giorgos Nikolettos.
Koumis spoke of his “great pleasure” to be visiting the “uniquely beautiful beach” to begin the initiative, which, he said, “extends across the length and breadth of Cyprus, from Protaras to Pyrgos Tillirias”.
CSTI chairman Philippos Drousiotis said initiatives such as the one which began on Tuesday are “proof that the tourism industry cares for a better Cyprus”.
“Today, through this collective effort, we sent a strong message regarding the imperative need to ensure the cleanliness of Cyprus’ beaches and coasts,” he said.
