As a tourism board, maintaining Larnaka region as a safe destination as well as an attractive one is assisted by our participation in several EU projects, including the ESTour project of the Erasmus+ programme of the EU.

The ESTour project - which began in 2022 - aims at training and certifying people who have been working in the hospitality sector and would like to update their skills related to the new health and safety protocols and new digital technologies in regards to an effective response to epidemic crises’ impact. The Covid-19 pandemic was unchartered territory for the tourism industry, and so, the main goal of the ESTour Expert is to be able to conduct an operational plan by creating and implementing staff protocols and guidelines, retraining and monitoring staff regarding infection control, physical distancing and hygiene measures, and to know how to use the new digital technologies for implementing clients’ social distancing during epidemic crises, thus giving them the tools to be better prepared for any future health crisis that may arise.

The 5th TPM (Transnational Partners Meeting) for the project was held in Nicosia in January and offered a constructive progress report on how the training materials are being developed and the next steps for the project, which include finalising the asynchronous learning materials; training those who will deliver the course; organising the piloting activities and readying the training for ISO certification before the official roll-out of the learning platform later in the year.

The project will be concluded in June 2024 and each partner will disseminate the training in their country with LTB preparing to update the hotel and tourism industry as well as tourism graduates on the opportunities and knowledge this course will provide.