Filenews 12 January 2023 - by Dora Christodoulou
2023 brings the sports tourism factor to the forefront. A component that was an emerging and promising aspect of tourism in Paphos before the onset of the pandemic and which, however, in the last two years has completely disappeared from the discussion about tourism.
The outbreak of the virus throughout Europe in the previous two years, had eliminated the demand for sports infrastructure of the Pafos district from the international arena for the preparation of teams or athletes, both during the summer and the winter season. The return of relative normality over the past year was expected to bring sports tourism back to a satisfactory level in the district of Pafos, as is generally the case with the tourist flow. However, hopes have been dashed, with Paphos having recorded virtually zero percentages in 2022 in this area as well.
Although in the previous months the province's bodies seem to have received contacts from sports organizations of central and northern Europe for the planning of the arrival of sports teams for preparation in 2022 in Paphos, the recovery of the pandemic through its new variants, and especially the new field shaped in the economics of Europe by the Russian-Ukrainian war, cancelled all planning in the sports sector as well, with the result that so far there has been zero effect on the revenues of Municipalities and other local authorities and bodies from the arrival of foreign missions for preparation in the province.
The concerted effort that began in recent years with the intense efforts of private sector professionals and the support of the Deputy Ministry of Tourism, hoteliers and local bodies, had paid off to a great extent before the pandemic and the goal of the Pafos institutions is for this effort to resume as soon as possible. A goal that tourist agencies of the province express the certainty that it will be able to be realized in 2023 and especially in the second half of it.
