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Larnaca lights up

8th August 2008 | back to article listings BACK    print this article PRINT

For all the talk recently about the possibilities in northern Cyprus if and when reunification takes place, the south of Cyprus is still the place to be on the island.

Quite apart from some of the legal issues that could arise in the north over claims on property vacated by Greek Cypriots fleeing to the south in the 1974 conflict, there is also the not-so-small matter of what is happening in Larnaca.

According to Kypros.org, Larnaca is a town of 62,000 people with a range of attributes, including natural ones (fine beaches and palm trees), the proximity of an international airport and a rich cultural and architectural history. Features of this include the relics of the town's Mycenean heyday in the 13th century such as the Cyclopean walls and various temples, while there is also the Fotress castle, which is used as the summer cultural centre.

All this makes Larnaca sound like the sort of place many tourists would come to and therefore a location investors in overseas buy-to-let property could be interested in. But this is just, it seems, the beginning for Larnaca. Two major developments could make the town a much bigger player in the Cypriot tourist scene.

Firstly, there was the news this week that the Ministry of Communications and Works has issued the €1 billion (£791 million) contract for the first phase of the transformation of the port to Zenon consortium, which is partially owned by cruise firms Costa and Louis, the Financial Mirror reports.

The paper stated that Zenon had beaten off tough competition to gain the right to operate Larnaca as a cruise port for 35 years. It stated that with the airport due to be expanded, a new superyacht facility and marina to go with the new cruise port, Larnaca will soon be at the "forefront" of cruise tourism in the eastern Mediterranean. If this was not enough, there will also be new five star hotels, residential and retail facilities, plus a promenade to link up with the town centre. The whole project is set to start in 2009 and be complete by 2016.

If this was the only new development to enhance Larnaca's tourism it might be enough to get some investors interested, but there is also a more immediate development. Budget carrier Monarch Airlines has announced this week that it is to start a new service flying twice weekly (Sundays and Wednesdays) to Lanaca from Birmingham. This service will start on March 29th 2009, providing more access for the British tourist market.

With these two developments, Larnaca should expect to see substantial growth in its tourist market, with the development of its facilities complementing the additional access by plane and ship. It could just be the hottest market on the island for investors in buy-to-let tourism over the next few years.

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