Paphos is stepping up efforts to promote sports tourism as it seeks to attract more visitors particularly in the low season between November and April.
Paphos Hotel Association chairman Thanos Michaelides told the Cyprus News Agency that Cyprus’ mild winter made it particularly attractive and Paphos can attract runners, swimmers and cyclists. He noted that athletes tended to remain for several days to train, and this meant multiple benefits for Paphos.
He added that Paphos hosts a marathon, cycling events and a triathlon which attracted international interest. Stakeholders aimed to host representatives of sports associations and clubs in order to push their campaign.
Nasos Hadjgeorgiou, director of the Paphos Tourism Promotion and Marketing Board called on hoteliers and other stakeholders to invest further in infrastructure for sports tourism.
He said there was unprecedented interest from clubs and individual athletes to carry out their winter preparation in Cyprus because of the mild winter. Although the cost of building and maintaining the required infrastructure was high, he said he was confident that such investments are more than worthwhile.
The board has recently published a new brochure with the most important sporting events of 2019, focusing particularly on the triathlon, cycling, marathon and individual sports such as cycling, running and swimming, he said.
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