The budget of the project at 5 million euros was passed by the Superintendent of State Aid Control
In subsequent sessions of the Council of Ministers, it is expected that the Sponsorship Plan for the Creation and Enrichment of Health Tourism Facilities and Services, Wellness, Rehabilitation, Accessibility and Autonomous Assisted Living in Hotels and Tourist Accommodations, with the aim of Attracting Health and Wellness Tourism, after approval by the State Aids Control Authority while it has been published in the Official Gazette of the Republic.
The aim of the measure is to provide financial support to existing hotels and tourist accommodation so that they attract health, well-being, rehabilitation tourism all the time, of independent assisted living, but also to become accessible and friendly in their entirety to people with any kind of disability, athletes, families with children who use baby carriages.
The ultimate goal is to make Cyprus a recognizable destination for wellness tourism in general, and promote it through specialized travel packages for accessible tourism, health and wellness tourism, as well as for people interested in recovery after surgery or treatment. A possible goal is to promote Cyprus as a retirement destination, providing independent assisted living services to older people.
The Plan is included in the Recovery and Resilience Plan (RESP) of Cyprus for the period 2021–2026 and will be
financed by the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism (RESM) of the European Union.
Beneficiaries
A natural or legal person is entitled to submit an application, which:
(a) either had a classification in force on March 14, 2019 for the specific business (Hotel or Tourist Accommodation) by the Deputy Ministry of Tourism (formerly KOT) and in any Category and Class in accordance with the provisions of the “Hotel and Tourist Accommodation Laws 1969 -2014”, (b) whether it has a valid operating license and classification from the Deputy Ministry of Tourism for the operation of the specific business (Hotel or Tourist Accommodation) and in any Category and Class, where applicable, in accordance with the provisions of “on the Regulation of Establishment and Operation of Hotels and Tourist Accommodation Laws of 2019-2022.
The Measure is addressed only to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), as defined in the European Commission Recommendation on the definition of very small, small and medium-sized enterprises (no. 2003/361/EC).
Beneficiaries do not include troubled companies within the meaning of article 2(18) of the Regulation.
The Measure's budget amounts to 5 million euros, while applications will be accepted until 09/29/2024 or until the available budget is exhausted. Eligible costs should relate to the following aspects of services:
• Health aspect.
• Wellness aspect.
• Rehabilitation aspect after surgery or treatment.
• Aspect accessibility of all visitors regardless of their abilities.
• Aspect of autonomous assisted living.
and consist of the following general categories of expenses, which are specified in the Measure Guide:
a ) Construction, Electromechanical and Other Interior and Exterior Works, Special Installations and Systems.
b) Mobile Machinery, Furniture and Equipment.
c) Digital upgrade with a maximum amount of 5 thousand Euros.
d) Fees of Consultants and Experts with a maximum grant amount of 5% of the total proposed investment per company is set at 1 million Euros.
The minimum amount of proposed investment is:
– €10,000 per business of Traditional Buildings and Tourist Camps.
– €30,000 for the other categories of Hotels and Tourist Accommodations.
