The gold award was received for the category “Tours/City Tours/Walking Tours/Day Cruises/Yachting
The tour was created specifically for the visually impaired and the pilot application took place in May 2022 in collaboration with the St. Barnabas School for the Blind.
A distinction for the fourth consecutive year for ETAP Larnaca at this year's Pan-Cyprus Tourism Awards held last night. Specifically, the gold award was received for the category “Tours/City Tours/Walking Tours/Day Cruises/Yachting” for the pioneering tours for the visually impaired entitled “Larnaka Sensory Tours for the Blind”.
This particular type of tour was created especially for people with visual impairments and the pilot application took place in May 2022 in collaboration with the Agios Varnavas School for the Blind. It has since been replicated in other cases with success.
This tour focuses on creating a sensory experience by visiting museums in the city where exhibits can be explored in interactive ways, incorporating the use of touch, smell, sound and taste. Specifically, the Pieridis Museum – Cultural Foundation of the Bank of Cyprus, organized, on the occasion of the program in question, guided tours to touch the exhibits as well as to smell the scents of ancient times that have been reproduced. Additionally, the tour includes the Kyriazi Medical Museum, which is perhaps the only museum where the visitor can touch all the exhibits and explore them. The experiential experience also includes a ceramics workshop in the Larnaca Artists' Neighborhood. The program also includes a tour of the city through the already awarded initiative from the Pan-Cypriot Tourism Awards called “Larnaka Storytelling Statues”. In addition, a copy of the head of the statue of Zeno of Kitias was printed – especially for this occasion – on the 3D printers of the Youth Makerspace Larnaka of ONEK, which can be given to the participants to look at while the guide informs about the history of the Stoic philosopher .
The tour in question arose from the need to offer cultural experiences to groups of people with different needs, such as people with sensory disabilities, after the participation of ETAP Larnaca in related European programs. A parallel goal is to raise awareness of the tourism industry and new, inclusive options for tourists.
The President of ETAP Larnaca Mr. Dinos Lefkaritis emphasized the importance of such initiatives as tourism must be accessible to all regardless of physical or social limitations. He added that “in this way we create conditions and conditions that allow a wide range of visitors to enjoy their holidays in Larnaca. The continuous improvement of the accessibility of our destination is for us a timeless pursuit”.
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