AYIA Napa municipality, the national association for people with disabilities and the Rethymnos municipality in Crete have united in an effort to make the two cities more accessible for people with mobility issues.

The project “Ayia-Napa – Rethymnos: Completely Accessible Cities” which will cost more than €1 million, is aimed at improving the infrastructure and accessibility of the two cities for the disabled.

Ayia Napa municipality announced yesterday that the project would last for two years and will be mainly funded by the European Regional Development Fund. The total cost comes to €1,050,000, with the development fund contributing 80 per cent and national resources the other 20 per cent.

“The project’s aim will be the development of the infrastructure and an improvement to accessibility for disabled people to places and services,” a statement from Ayia Napa municipality said. “This will be achieved in two parts, the first will be the creation of a suitable infrastructure and the second for authorities to inform and communicate better with the disabled public and visitors and to improve local business’ awareness when it comes to disabled people,” it added.

According to statistics, disabled people make up 10 per cent of the population but accessibility problems affect all of those with mobility problems, which come to 50 per cent of the population.

“The results of the project will be an improvement in the cities’ attractiveness as a tourist destination which will contribute to their economic development,” the statement said.

According to the European Network of Accessible Tourism 70 per cent of disabled people are financially capable of travelling but they are not willing to do so unless they find destinations which meet their needs. “The gross profit of this market is more than €80 billion a year,” the statement concluded.

Source: Cyprus Mail

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