Beach services in Cyprus

It is interesting to record how the various municipalities and other local authorities in Cyprus exploit the public beaches. Beach service in Cyprus has so far been limited to providing umbrellas and beach beds. You might think how much this is worth: we can assure you that, depending on the quality and extent of the beach, it can reach 1 million euros. not by area. The recent example in the Paralimni area where the beach collectors (Municipality employees) reported only half of what they are actually collecting, when they were replaced the income increased by €400,000!! and this for a season of 3 months, not to mention other areas for the use of the beach, by locals and tourists who have a season of 5-6 months. The money is big, dear readers, and the Troika has suggested us (Cyprus) to go out to tender for the beach facilities. However, the House with our objectionable MPs rejected this, prompting the Troika to ask “how strong are the existing beach operators in this country”?

The town that has taken full advantage of this beach exploitation is Limassol. Along the promenade, there are several beach kiosks that, although they began as kiosks-cafeterias, have become beach bars and restaurants, with significant income for the Municipality. However, the municipality of Larnaca set up a kiosk on lines similar to those in Limassol in the Phoenicoudes beach area, prompting the district office to seek a demolition permit (the mayor of Larnaca is still wondering why the difference).

A well-organized beach has a direct relationship with property/housing prices, as you can enjoy the beach that is expected to be cleaned with facilities such as restrooms, lifeguards, parking, etc. A place where the whole family can safely enjoy the calm and clean sea of ​​Cyprus.

Returning to Paralimni, in our estimation, it is the only Municipality that seems to be organized in this. Each small sandy bay has toilet facilities and nearby parking. Every afternoon the beaches are cleaned and it is the only Municipality that provides enough rubbish bins to accommodate visitors (most public beaches do not have or do not have enough, causing people to place their rubbish around the bins garbage at best). Because the service brings demand, it is quite strange that the extensive beach of Polis-Latchi has limited these facilities, nor Paphos and other cities to a large extent.

In countries like Greece, the beaches are mainly operated by hotels, based on fixed goods rates and providing, through a mobile kiosk, all kinds of drinks, including alcohol, sandwiches, etc. An innovative hotelier in Mykonos, which is operating a beach, in addition to beds and umbrellas, has installed walkie-talkies at intervals, so that one can order whatever one wants while relaxing on the beach. To our surprise, most of the (foreign) occupants ordered Champaign, which comes with a full ice bucket, umbrella cover, and stand. Call it entertainment, call it convenience, there weren’t enough waiters to go around!

Good beaches with services are the ones we usually see on our televisions in resorts in the USA and others, but there is a lot of beach business and others for this type of facility. Going back to Mykonos, near a serviced beach around a bay, there is a luxury holiday home development, which, as one proud Dutch resident told us, “beach service/facilities is all the money we spend to buy the property”. Of course there has to be a customer service in some beaches, including Cyprus, the rules of organization and facilities (which we can copy from other countries) so that it works for the benefit of all. Our Dutch friend from Myconos added that “we paid for this house 1½ million euros (!!) and have attributed ½ million euros to the organized beach. Of course, if one cares about other people on the beach, the organized beaches can be a minus added.Night parties are a problem and Psarou beach (Myconos) is not for us with the night parties and live disco.Lovely if you are up to 40 and the small units near this beach are in high demand and they sell for €5,000/m2!! He explained to us that entertainment on the beach is part of the local culture that the local authorities are on the bandwagon and actually turn the rocky beaches into artificial sandy bays for satisfy the demand (and the income of the authorities) .

In last week’s article, you may remember, we referred to the innovative Cypriot idea of ​​beach container housing. This time we come up with another idea, but this time the money involved is so much that we doubt the existing “beach gang” in Cyprus will allow it.