CRITICISED by opponents about his failure to keep his pledge so far, President Nicos Anastasiades on Saturday said that construction of a teleferic on Troodos would go ahead, as he announced a number of infrastructure projects and plans worth some €16m to rejuvenate the region and attract tourists, a sector in which mountain villages are struggling to survive.
While coastal areas have for the past two seasons been enjoying unprecedented numbers of visitors, hotel occupancy in the Troodos area clocks in around one third less than units in the main resorts.
On Saturday, the president attended the general meeting of the Troodos development company, made up of the region’s communities, which have repeatedly complained about being neglected by the state when it came to tourist infrastructure.
Not one to ignore criticism, Anastasiades made special reference to his election promise to build a teleferic connection the Amiantos mine with Troodos square.
“This project was indeed one of my announcements because I believe in the added value it would bring to the area,” he said.
He added that the project did not progress due to its high cost and need of co-operation between the public and private sectors.
“Today, I am happy to announce that the project will advance,” he said.
The president said €150,000 will be made available this month to invite tenders for studies to be carried out and presented to private investors who would finance and manage it.
“After all, this is a proposal that originated through expert studies and was included in the master plan for the development of Amiantos mine.”
In his speech, the president said his administration was working hard to put state property in the area into use for tourism. A detailed survey of the buildings has been conducted and they were divided into 10 complexes.
The first phase of the project concerned three complexes around Troodos square, expected to cost €16m. The process to find investors is expected to finish at the end of the year.
The move is part of the government’s broader strategy to boost tourism in the mountain communities, Anastasiades said.
He also informed the communities that a decision has been made to afford special incentives to tour operators to channel foreign tourists to the Troodos region for a few days as part of their packages.
The decision was taken only days ago at a meeting between the tourism minister, the hoteliers association and the Cyprus Tourism Organisation
An incentive scheme worth €1m to upgrade hotels in the area will also be announced by the end of the year, the president said.
Help in boosting tourist traffic and upgrading their units has been a long-standing demand by hoteliers in mountain resorts.
Last week, owners voiced disappointment over their occupancy rates and urged the state to seriously consider their problems to prevent the demise of the sector.
The mountain villages of Kakopetria, Platres, Agros, Pedoulas and Kalopanayiotis share 18 hotels between them but unlike their counterparts on the coasts, they struggle to fill their rooms.
The region’s hoteliers said their occupancy at the moment was around 60 per cent, as they called on the government to consider the serious problems they faced and help them upgrade and attract more visitors.
Among others, the president announced the creation of an observatory in the Agridia community, and an outdoor star observation area in the Amiantos mine.
He also said that between 2013 and 2016, some €12.4m was spent on road and building improvement projects while in 2017 €4.1m is expected to be afforded to Troodos communities in the Nicosia and Limassol districts.
Referring to projects which were either completed or ongoing, he talked about the restoration of the environment at Amiantos mine at a cost of €1.35m, landscaping the Troodos square, a proposal to include the Troodos region in the UNESCO global geopark list, and the project GEO-IN which has received €300,000 from the Geoparks programme between Cyprus and Greece for the period 2014 – 2020.
In the pipeline are projects such as a regional market in the village Karvounas at a cost of €600,000 and plans to establish a gastronomy school in Saitas, costing about €730,000.
According to Anastasiades in the context of the EU Rural Development Programme for the period 2014 – 2020, the Troodos Development Company is expected to receive in co-funding up to €2.7m for the implementation of a local development strategy.
