EUROPE’S CLEANEST SWIMING WATER IS FOUND IN CYPRUS
EUROPE’S CLEANEST SWIMING WATER IS FOUND IN CYPRUS
LEARN MORE ABOUT EUROPE’S CLEANEST SWIMING WATER IS FOUND IN CYPRUS AND DISCOVER THESE SPECTACULAR EUROPEAN ISLANDS
Cyprus’s tourism took a big boost. Tuesday after the nation was named first among the 27 countries that make up the European Union for having the cleanest bathing waters by the continent’s environmental authority. Cyprus got a flawless score of 100 percent for exceptional water quality at 112 swimming places throughout the island, which were tested between May 1 and October 31 of last year, according to the European Environment Agency’s rankings for the 2020 swim season.
Cyprus beat out Austria, Greece, and Malta, which came in second, third, and fourth, respectively. That’s a timely boost for the east Mediterranean island nation, which is trying to woo holidaymakers back after a pandemic-afflicted 2020 summer season that saw tourist arrivals plunge more than 84 percent from the previous, record-setting year.
Tourism directly accounts for 13 percent of Cyprus’s gross domestic product and industry officials say they cannot face another disastrous year, especially without state financial support. “There’s a direct correlation between bathing water quality and tourism and as a result, the excellent results are very important not only for the health of bathers and the environment, but also for the economy of Cyprus,” said Environment Minister Costas Kadis.
The key for a healthy economy in Cyprus is to bring back tourists from the U.K.—its prime tourist market. Deputy Minister for Tourism Savvas Perdios is touring the U.K. now to drum up interest among tour operators once British authorities place Cyprus on the government’s “green” list. That means visiting Britons won’t need to undergo a compulsory quarantine period upon their return home.
Health Minister Constantinos Ioannou told state broadcaster CyBC on Tuesday that Cyprus and Denmark currently have the lowest COVID-19 infection rates in Europe, while Cyprus ranks third in the percentage of the population that has received at least one vaccine shot.