In a statement, the CTO said, 2015 had been particularly good for sports tourism but that all indications through requests so far from abroad were that 2016 would be even better with the strong possibility of around 3,500 athletes descending on Cyprus for training, generating around 40,000 overnight stays.

On top of that, there would be thousands of others visiting to take part in organised sports events on the island such as the women’s football tournament ‘Cyprus Women’s Cup’, which will involve eight teams or 3,000 overnight stays, and the Russian Federation second division football teams, bringing 16 teams amounting to 6,000 overnight stay. The events are to take place in the Famagusta and Larnaca areas respectively.

The CTO said it was working on updating its support plan for sports tourism, which envisages the improvement of existing facilities and the creation of new ones.

In 2015, those areas that benefited from the plan included Larnaca’s beach volley facilities, Ayia Napa’s improvements to its football pitches and Yeroskipou in Paphos with a new swimming pool.

“The development of sports tourism is a high priority issue for the CTO, which works closely with the private sector to support both financially and technically, their efforts and those of the local authorities and sports federations,” the CTO said.

Source: Cyprus Mail