The inclusion by the World Tourism Organization of the villages of Pissouri and Kalopanayiotis, in the 55 best tourism villages for 2024, elevates the country in terms of tourism and confirms that Cyprus has a present and a future, Deputy Minister of Tourism, Kostas Koumis, has said.

According to a statement by the Deputy Ministry, the official award ceremony took place on Thursday evening (early morning Cyprus time), on the occasion of the 122nd Session of the Executive Board of the World Tourism Organization, in Cartagena, Colombia.

Through the global coverage and publicity that the award ceremony received from international media and the social networks of the World Tourism Organization, the Ministry said, Cyprus was once again given the opportunity “to showcase a small sample of its natural landscapes, culture, and history”.

In his statement, Deputy Minister Kostas Koumis said this was “an extremely important distinction for our country, and of course for the villages of Pissouri and Kalopanayiotis”. 

“Such successes, undoubtedly, elevate our country in terms of tourism and confirm that Cyprus’ tourism has a present and a future, and this was confirmed yesterday at a conference that has its own unique prestige and dynamic”, Koumis said.

The Deputy Ministry said that this distinction for the two communities, as well as that of Lefkara in 2021, was part of its own efforts, as the State's official representative to the World Tourism Organization.

It also said that it “invests in and participates in the competition”, by selecting villages it deems have the biggest possibility of distinction based on the competition criteria, and by guiding and technically supporting the selected communities in the preparation of their applications.

The Best Tourism Villages award, it adds, usually focuses on sustainability issues, and the candidate villages are  evaluated through a set of sustainability indicators set by the World Tourism Organization covering areas such as cultural and natural resources, the promotion and preservation of cultural resources, economic, social and environmental sustainability.