Cyprus Business Now

The Association of Cyprus Tourist Enterprises (Stek) on Friday announced that it participated in a conference focusing on religious and pilgrimage tourism in Cyprus and Greece.

The conference, which took place in Greece, looked into how Cyprus and Greece can make the most of religious tourism through the targeted promotion of each country’s cultural and religious heritage, including their large number of churches and religious sites.

During the conference, speakers examined the most recent and innovative techniques for the digitisation of relics and the creation of augmented reality experiences through laboratory workshops, as well as the international developments for tourism development through the utilisation of cultural heritage and the development of religious and pilgrimage tourism.

In addition, there was a discussion on good practices in terms of the digitisation of intangible religious heritage and creating digital and hybrid museums, while the conference also looked into new trends for the development of skills that professionals working in the field of religious and cultural tourism must currently possess.

The International Investment Forum that took place in Limassol this week allowed 17 innovative start-up companies and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) from Greece, Cyprus and Bulgaria to showcase their ideas to prospective investors and entrepreneurs.

More than 70 people participated in the forum, which was held at the ASBIS High Tech Cluster, under the framework of a project titled “Organising acceleration for high-potential innovative SMEs” (Gazelle). The project is being implemented with funding provided by the Interreg Balkan-Mediterranean Programme 2014-2020.

The Gazelle project is a mechanism that seeks to accelerate the development process for innovative companies, facilitating the transfer of knowledge and best practices, including the development of tools for business angels and entrepreneurs.

In addition to the aforementioned startup presentations, the various activities of the Gazelle project were also presented during the forum, including business acceleration initiatives and the transfer of technical know-how for innovative start-up SMEs.

Eliza Loucaidou, director of the ARIS (A Really Inspiring Space) accelerator programme, the national support centre for the Gazelle project in Cyprus, stressed the importance of European funds for making such initiatives a reality.

Moreover, Loucaidou said that these funds significantly facilitate the implementation of important projects, which in turn play a catalytic role in the development and strengthening of innovative companies and start-ups, as well as in supporting transnational cooperation in Europe.

The Cyprus Land and Building Developers Association this week said that the partial collapse of balconies in Limassol after heavy rain once again highlights the need to modernise the legislative framework governing jointly owned buildings.

The association, based on the experience of its members, can identify the legal gap in the framework and provide advice so that we do not get to the point of mourning victims, as the incident in Limassol is not the first one to take place in Cyprus,” the association said, referencing two more accidents in Paphos, with the collapse of two balconies during the summer.

The association’s general Director Mersina Isidorou said that in this regard, “the 2022 Law on the Management of Co-Owned Buildings and Related Matters must be passed immediately”.

Isidorou added that tenants’ building fees are currently at very low levels, preventing the proper and timely maintenance of buildings in Cyprus.

“The association wishes to make it clear that the issue is extremely wide-ranging, since it concerns every building that is used by more than one user and affects not only the owners and tenants, but also the neighbours and those who happen to pass outside the property,” the association said.

“The government and the parliament are called upon to resolve these issues, since the passing of the amendment to the existing bill, which goes to the heart of the matter, should have been done a long time ago,” the associations concluded.

The Cyprus Stock Exchange (CSE) ended Friday, October 21 with profits.

The general Cyprus Stock Market Index was at 74.83 points at 14:12 during the day, reflecting a rise of 0.19 per cent over the previous day of trading.

The FTSE / CySE 20 Index was at 44.90 points, which represents an increase of 0.2 per cent.

The total value of transactions came up to €70,949.

In terms of the sub-indexes, the main and hotel indexes rose by 0.21 per cent and 0.42 per cent respectively, while the alternative and investment firm indexes both fell, decreasing by 0.02 per cent and 0.95 per cent respectively.

The biggest investment interest was attracted by the Bank of Cyprus (+0.74 per cent), Pandora (-1.45 per cent), Demetra (-1.01 per cent), Hellenic Bank (-1.47 per cent), Atlantic Insurance (-0.66 per cent), and Leptos Calypso Hotels (+5.21 per cent).