The key objective of the project is to select a Destination of Excellence in Cyprus which will be in line with the Commission’s theme of excellence, which is “Accessible Tourism”. More specifically, EDEN VI aims to reward those destinations which have developed a tourism offer based on an overall approach to accessibility for all tourists regardless of their physical limitations, disabilities or age.

The General Award Criteria has been derived from the Guidelines of the European Commission and is integrated into an on-off procedure. Therefore, eligible destinations will need to comply with these general award criteria and with a specific requirement in order to be described as a European Destination of Excellence in the frame of EDEN European Programme. The specific requirement is that the tourist offer should have been run from 2010 to be eligible for the application.

The general award criteria will require that destinations:

Beneficiaries are exclusively Local Authorities and/or associations of Local Authorities. The beneficiaries can collaborate with other local entities (e.g. professional organizations) that cannot apply on the Programme.

The General Qualitative Criteria are determined according to the aforementioned General Award Criteria and the general aim of the EU preparatory action.

Each candidate area can be defined as a touristic destination under the frame of EDEN VI – “Accessible Tourism” if can include at least three² (3) of the following:

• Accessibility is an integral part of the local tourism strategy.
• Persons with disabilities, their representative organizations and accessibility experts involved in both the planning and the implementation of the initiatives aiming at the increased accessibility for the tourists/visitors.
• Organisation of awareness raising campaigns or information activities concerning the accessibility and the Accessible Tourism.
• Evidence of the shared management responsibility for the destination of the relevant local stakeholders.
• Management of the tourist destination (contribution to the tourist promotion of the destination, new tourist package or marketing initiative, promotional activities aiming at creating a real “sense of place”).
• Evidence of the integration of environment and social concerns into the business strategy by those in charge of the tourism offer.
• Favorable impact of the project on the local economic growth.
• Effective communication to potential tourists.
• Encouragement of the modern cultural activities (e.g. cinema, digital representation of tradition crafts).
• Constitute a place of great hospitality for artists of any cultural interest often inviting them for competitions/concerts/exhibitions.
• Host environment friendly accommodation units (hotels, rooms to rent, etc.).
• Apply innovative forms of cooperation among local bodies and socioeconomic actors (e.g. a Local Steering Committee Group always assessing and supporting the implementation of new tourism strategies for Accessible Tourism and individual projects), and/or have created an integrated public-private-partnership among local stakeholders.
• Cooperate effectively with Industry federations, innovation institutes, national and regional public bodies, market research organizations, trade associations and other relevant organizations on Accessible Tourism.
• Created a network together with foreign destinations in order to exchange experiences, visitors, etc.
• Use effective methods for communication of the destination to potential tourists. This could include the use of new technologies to present the tourism offer in the area, digital/improved signposting and the setting up of information centers.

Generally, the tourism offer should ensure that the environment and quality of life in the nominated destination is enhanced, and the local community should be encouraged to become involved in enhancing the quality of the visitor experience. To this end, the National Tourism Strategy of CTO as well as any other related policy documents should be taken into account.