Which business are eligible for funding under the new Agrotourism scheme?

The Department of Town Planning and Housing will be accepting applications for investment proposals from small and medium-sized businesses under its Scheme for Promoting Agrotourism.

According to an Interior Ministry announcement the application period will start on October 29.

Eligible for funding, will be tourist accommodation, taverns, restaurants, traditional coffee shops and activities that relate to nature, culture and tradition.

All hotels are excluded.

The total amount allocated for funding will be €2 million. The minimum cost of investment is set at €120,000 and the maximum at €800,000. The maximum amount of funding a business can receive is set at €200,000.

According to the announcement, funding can be used for:

• Maintenance/restoration and/or alteration of preserved buildings or ancient monuments for the operation of new business activities and for the configuration of their surroundings space.
• Maintenance/restoration or conversion of preserved buildings or ancient monuments and the configuration of their surrounding space to upgrade existing businesses.

The objectives of the Scheme are: “a) to encourage investments by Small and Medium-sized businesses which focus on the promotion and enrichment of the culture and environment of the countryside, with the aim of supplementing or strengthening the employment of the residents b) rescue, preservation, restoration and upgrade of the traditional character and the authenticity of the countryside, which are the basis for the development of agrotourism; and c) the creation of new agrotourism and the further development of rural tourism.”

The Scheme is co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund under the programme “Competitiveness and Sustainable Development 2014-2020.”

The Scheme’s Implementation Guide and the Application Form can be obtained from the Department of Town Planning and Housing website www.moi.gov.cy/tph/ruraltourism.

The Plan was presented to interested parties on Tuesday 9 October 2018  at the Amphitheatre of the Headquarters of the Department of Urban Planning and Housing in Nicosia (5-6 Kinyras Street, 1102 Nicosia).

Applications may be submitted to the Headquarters of the Department of Town Planning and Housing in Nicosia from October 29, 2018.