A convention for the promotion of Religious Tourism in Cyprus, was organized this week at the Cyprus University of Technology.

Participants at the meeting underlined the need for better coordination between actors associated with Religious Tourism,  for thorough information about religious monuments and for the use of technology. 

Representatives of the Church of Cyprus, Deputy Minister of Tourism, Savvas Perdios, and academics spoke at the convention and they all underlined the importance of Religious Tourism as an alternative that could provide means for tackling seasonal limitations of the industry. The Bishop of Mesaoria spoke of the initiatives on behalf of the Church, such as publications and events that aim to reinforce the industry and referred to an event in Poland about religious customs in Cyprus, which produced an increase of 300% in arrivals from Poland.

The open discussion during the convention highlighted the access restrictions in monasteries and churches as a major weakness for the Religious Tourism and interested parties promised to look into it carefully.

Some concerns were expressed about the loss of the Russian market, after the war in Ukraine, but the representatives of the Deputy Ministry of Tourism reassured the attendees that the alternative markets made up for it