Speaking at the celebratory event of the "Keep our Sand and Sea Plastic Free" project held this afternoon at the Malama Beach Holiday Village in Protaras, Mr Perdios said it was important for the Deputy Ministry "to take such initiatives since one of the five pillars of the National Tourism Strategy is for Cyprus to become a destination that respects the environment".
"The environmental consciousness is very important not only to cultivate among tourism operators, certainly among visitors, but we ourselves have to understand that we have to respect the environment and our beaches, which people come from abroad to enjoy," the Deputy Minister of Tourism pointed out.
He added that "for the Deputy Ministry of Tourism, such efforts show the increasing interest that people have in these issues, it is a trend that, through the pandemic, seems to be growing and we all who are involved in tourism should be aware of any problems created in the environment by the activities, either tourism or everyday life."
Perdios also expressed the belief that "Cyprus has all the tools to become a destination that respects the environment". Recent Eurostat statistics, he said, "show that around 38% of Cyprus is protected, a fairly high percentage, since the average for the European Union is 26%," noting that "it is important that our island is in the top six countries that designate areas as protected."
This, he continued, "shows our environmental consciousness and is something that the Deputy Ministry of Tourism will start to take abroad, because the tourist wants to know that the destination he is visiting respects the environment."
In addition, Mayor of Paralimni Theodoros Pyrillis said that "the Municipality will continue its program in terms of adapting to new conditions and needs for environmental protection. Malama beach is the second beach of Paralimnios to become free of plastic and microplastics and we will continue our efforts in other beaches as well."
He also expressed the belief that all the beaches of Paralimnios "will become plastic-free beaches to preserve the marine environment without impact so that we can create the sustainability that is needed and manage to have them for all generations. Certainly the needs and the pressure on the beaches with the increasing number of tourists is very high and so we all need to be doubly careful."
For his part, the President of the Famagusta Tourism Development and Promotion Company, Mayor of Ayia Napa Christos Zannettou said among other things that "in Ayia Napa, recycling bins have been used for years and we raise public awareness with various signs and the response of both Cypriots and tourists is positive and to a great extent".
At the same time he continued "the Municipality collects all plastic that is channelled from sorting to recycling and there are also places where people can place the plastic, such as the coastal walkways and near the entrances to the beaches. There is also a public awareness campaign on not using plastics in order to raise awareness because the ecological protection of the environment is important for the Municipality of Ayia Napa and humanity as a whole."
Christos Angelides, President of the Pancyprian Association of Hotel Managers (PASYDIXE)
described as "excellent the program, which has to do with the whole picture of the everyday life of the tourism industry and the tourism consciousness and it is important to support and promote them as much as possible. It has to do with the environment in which we and tourists live, which from now on should be our priority."
He also noted that "the choices of both tourists and tour operators have to do with how environmentally well positioned the different destinations are, how much they take care of the environment in which their visitors will live and how much the sustainability of the destination will help them in the future to add to their profitability.
According to Angelides, "too many hotels and Managers and employees alike have started to become environmentally conscious, paying attention to their movements, plastics and beyond, general recycling and general consideration of environmental principles. In hotels, apart from recycling, something else is also important, which is the composting of leftover food that is no longer used."
Philip Droussiotis, President of the Cyprus Sustainable Tourism Association expressed great pleasure that "today we are celebrating the completion of the first phase of this project, which was for the free area of Famagusta, which was a great success. Today it was announced the continuation of the project for the next three years which will be extended to the whole of Cyprus, namely, Larnaca, Limassol, Paphos, Polis Chrysochous and the other coasts."
He added that "the extension of the project will be with the same partners while the Cyprus Sustainable Tourism Association will be the implementing body. We are very satisfied with the results we have had so far because we have activated the whole industry, including hoteliers," he said, noting that "we consider it a wave of change towards not using single-use plastic and how to stop polluting our seas with plastics."
In addition Helen Caron, Board member of the TUI Care Foundation/ TUI Group Purchasing Director in the area of Hotels & Resorts, Cruises, Destination Experiences, described the results of this particular programme to remove plastics from the beach as "fantastic. This effort has managed to remove plastic waste equivalent to the weight of 23 737 aircraft, which is a huge achievement."
He also said that the continuation of the programme for another three years on beaches in Cyprus was announced tonight and expressed satisfaction at the extension of this initiative which is a really important element for the Care Foundation.
Veronika Blach, Senior Programme Lead, TUI Care Foundation[/B] said that today we are celebrating the completion of a three-year programme, which we have been working on with the Travel Foundation and the Cyprus Sustainable Tourism Association, which has addressed plastic pollution in the hotel and tourism industry, involving various stakeholders and even schools. The aim, she added, is to get the message across that we need to reduce plastic, we need to eliminate it in some cases and we need to recycle it and ensure that it does not end up in our environment.
She also noted that "we are very pleased with the results of the project, we focused on the area of Ayia Napa and Paralimni and we managed to have 100 businesses, including hotels, bars, restaurants, clubs and schools, committed to reducing and eliminating plastics. This is a great achievement," he said, adding that "our aim at the next stage is to increase this number to 300."
He also said that the opening tonight of Malama beach makes two beaches in Paralimni that are plastic-free, the first being the beach at Agia Triada.
Elke Dens, Director of Global Programmes at the Travel Foundation described as "important the first step that Cyprus has taken when it comes to plastic waste and it is extremely important when you are on an island and you have the sea around you."
"However, there are more steps that Cyprus can take for tourism in the future," she said and expressed the hope that "more projects of this kind will follow, as we need to address other issues besides climate, such as food waste."
Tourism, he continued, "should add value to the residents of the area and improve the quality of life" while he expressed satisfaction that this project is also being carried out in schools in order to teach Cyprus' students how to recycle.
Source: CNA
Contents of this article including associated images are belongs Cyprus Times
Views & opinions expressed are those of the author and/or Cyprus Times
Source
