Sotira: Tourist destination of high demands

CE91 2 Nea Famagusta
CE91 46 Nea Famagusta

By Stavris Attouni:

The announcement for the first luxury hotel in the Municipality of Sotiras marks the organized tourist development of our Municipality. The new hotel unit can set the course and set a long-term tourism development plan. We can, therefore, take advantage of this opportunity and create a tourist resort with its own character, faithful to tradition and sustainability.

As mentioned in the strategy axes for the tourism development of the Cyprus Tourism Organization, emphasis is placed on People, the Environment and Culture, aiming at the balanced development of tourism and the improvement of revenue sharing, with respect to the local population.

The pillars of strategy are parallel to the three pillars of sustainable development:

1. Protection and respect for the environment,
2. Balanced economic growth,
3. Preservation and promotion of the tourist identity and heritage of the place.

I think we should not discover the wheel from the beginning, so we can look at the example of Monemvasia in the Peloponnese and adopt some good ideas for our case. On a recent trip to beautiful Monemvasia, I had the opportunity to admire how tradition and tourism development go hand in hand and complement each other. The old town (a perfectly preserved Medieval settlement) coexists with Nea Poli (a vibrant tourist settlement) where visitors and tourists can enjoy beaches, churches and monasteries, museums, geological explorations, local products, unique flavors in restaurants, hiking and sea ​​sports.

In a similar way let us create a long-term plan for Sotira, where our Byzantine town will coexist with a modern tourist area. In this plan our very rich Religious tradition, our natural wealth, our beaches, our traditional activities, our local products and food, can be combined with a tourist area a few kilometers from the center of the Municipality, which will attract tourists in high demand.

As past experience has taught us, it is not particularly difficult to destroy the environment and sacrifice our tradition and culture to anarchic tourism development. As a community we welcome any development as it respects the environment, our values, our daily lives and future generations. So let's give incentives to other entrepreneurs to invest in our Municipality after first shielding the sustainable development of our community.

"Sotira Famagusta - A Sustainable High Destination Tourist Destination"


Stavri Attouni,
Active Citizen Savior



(Photo: wonderful view from Monemvasia)