Larnaka Tourism Board (LTB) scooped its fourth consecutive win at the Cyprus Tourism Awards held last night with a Gold award for its ‘Larnaka Sensory Tour for the Blind’.

The Gold in the ‘Tours/City Tours/Walking Tours/Day Cruises/Yachting’ category is for the island’s first sensory tour for the visually impaired; created and organised by LTB in collaboration with the Saint Barnabas School for the Blind. The pilot tour was held in May 2022 and has since been replicated for further groups with great success.

The guided, city walking tour focuses on creating a sensory experience by visiting two popular museums where the historical artefacts can be explored in interactive ways. The Pierides Museum – Bank of Cyprus Cultural Foundation specifically created a tour that incorporates touching authentic exhibits and smelling reproduced ancient perfumes. At Kyriazis Medical Museum – perhaps the only museum where visitors are encouraged to touch the exhibits – visitors feel the artefacts. The tour also includes a visit to ceramic workshops at the Larnaka Art Workshops Neighbourhood where participants create with clay, as well as a visit to several of the award-winning Larnaka Storytelling Statues. The interactive experience has been adapted and enriched by creating a 3D replica of the head of the statue of Zeno of Kition that is felt whilst listening to ‘his’ narration and the tour guide’s information. The 3D-printed replica was created specifically for the tour by the Youth Board of Cyprus’ Youth Makerspace Larnaka.

The pilot tour was borne from the need to offer cultural experiences for a diverse range of visitors, such as those with sensory disabilities (auditory and visual) following LTB’s participation in European programmes and has led to increased awareness within the tourism industry, and new, inclusive options for tourists.

In receiving the award, Chairman of LTB – Mr Dinos Lefkaritis – emphasised the importance of initiatives that create more inclusive tourism: “Tourism must be accessible to everyone, regardless of physical or social limitations, and through initiatives like the sensory tour we are creating the conditions that allow a wide range of visitors to enjoy their holidays in Larnaka.” He also added that making Larnaka region accessible is a continuous pursuit of the tourism board.

April 28, 2023