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Paphos wins creative tourism award

File photo: Paphos street

Paphos has won another European award, the local tourism board has announced.

The Paphos Regional Board of Tourism has been awarded, ‘Best Strategy in Creative Tourism Development 2020’, by the creative tourism network.

“The international network based in Barcelona, within the framework of the annual international awards for 2020, announced Paphos as the Best Strategy in Creative Tourism Development,” the Paphos tourism board said.

The distinction came after the evaluation of a proposal prepared and submitted in November 2020, said the head of the Paphos tourism board, Nasos Hadjigeorgiou said.

“Paphos was among dozens of other prestigious destinations and was distinguished as Best Strategy in Creative Tourism Development 2020. This means that Paphos is the best destination (for 2020) in terms of the strategy it follows to offer visitors the opportunity for creative experiences with their active participation in experiences related to local community, tradition and culture,” he said.

According to the announcement, in the proposal submitted, special reference was made to the Old Town of Paphos (Paphos centre) which is in the process of being transformed into a central point that offers various experiences that the visitor can participate in and be creative.

This includes traditional professions, such as , arts and crafts, wine, gastronomy and traditions, cultural and other events, and there in much room for further development and improvement, the tourism head said.

“In recent years, various studies have shown that visitors no longer wants to be considered a “tourist” but want to feel involved in the daily life of the locals and experience the destination. Today, visitors are no longer content with just a traditional sightseeing tour,” Hadjigeorgiou said.

Instead, they are seeking to participate in the experience.

“This is the new way of discovering a foreign culture and destination in general and it’s growing every year.”

The Creative Tourism website (CTN) notes that creative tourism is considered a new generation of tourism that involves the tourists and locals in the creation of the tourist product (co-creation).

It is tourism which offers visitors the opportunity to develop their creative potential through active participation in courses and learning experiences, which are characteristic of the holiday destination where they are.

The CTN was founded in 2010 as a non-profit organisation to promote destinations of all kinds that promote creative tourism as a differential element to attract new generations of travellers.

Such destinations include rural areas, islands, medium cities and metropolis from around the world, that benefit from the CTN’s assessment and promotion.

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