Cyprus has 8 European Destinations of Excellence

The EDEN-European Destinations of Excellence project is being carried out in the framework of the European COSME Program, which is co-funded by the European Commission – Tourism Unit. It is a project that promotes sustainable tourism development models across the European Union and focuses on annual national competitions to select a tourist ‘destination of excellence’ from each participating member state.

EDEN in Cyprus

The Deputy Ministry of Tourism is in charge of managing the EDEN program in Cyprus. Since 2007 the Cyprus Tourism Organisation (CTO) and now the ministry has been conducting a national competition for the selection of European Destination of Excellence for the yearly category.

Cyprus’ Winners

To date, 8 destinations of excellence have emerged in our country, depending on the theme of each year, which is selected by the Commission in cooperation with the tourism operators in each participating country.

Both the winning destination in Cyprus and the winning destinations of the other countries participating in the EDEN Program are promoted at European level through promotional actions by the European Commission.

List of Winners in Cyprus includes:

Troodos

Year of Award: 2007

Category: Best Emerging European Rural Destinations of Excellence

Agros

Year of the award: 2008

Category: Tourism and Local Intangible Heritage Destination

Vouni Panagias

Year of the award: 2009

Category: Tourism and Protected Areas

Kato Pyrgos

Year of Award: 2010

Category: Aquatic Tourism

Kalopanagiotis

Year of the award: 2011

Category: Tourism and Regeneration of Physical Sites

Polis Chrysochou

Year of the award: 2012

Category: Accessible Tourism

Pitsilia

Year of the award: 2015

Category: Tourism and Local Gastronomy

Orini Larnaca

Year of the award: 2017

Category: Cultural Tourism

The main objectives of the program are to highlight the values, diversity and common characteristics of European tourism destinations, but also to promote destinations where tourism development is pursued in such a way as to ensure social, cultural, economic, and environmental balance.

The Program also aims to create a platform for the dissemination of good practice in Europe and to promote networking among selected destinations of excellence.

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