Setting sights on diving tourism

The Paphos chamber of commerce and industry plans to enhance the artificial reef created in June with the sinking of the Laboe, and is setting its sights on creating a second reef in Polis , the Cyprus News Agency reported on Sunday.

The president of the chamber Andreas Demetriades said the aim was to enhance the reef by creating a thematic marine park around the wreck, and also a “snorkelling park”.

To this end, he added, the chamber and the local tourism development company were exploring the option of EU funding in ongoing consultations with the ministry of agriculture and fisheries.

He also said they hoped to create a second reef in Polis. Studies were already underway, Demetriades said.

Developing sports tourism in general was a key objective for Paphos, he added.

To achieve the objectives, he said existing infrastructure would need to function optimally and to be complemented by additional projects to meet the needs of different sporting activities.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.