On the third and final day of Elafonisos Eco Week, we focused on sustainable tourism, reinforcing our commitment to making Elafonisos a model for responsible travel and ecological resilience.
Philippos Drousiotis, Chairman of the Cyprus Sustainable Tourism Initiative (CSTI), shared impactful insights and experiences from two decades of work in sustainable tourism. Emphasizing authenticity over greenwashing, he opened by stating that CSTI is driven by real, practical actions, not empty promises.
He presented CSTI’s major achievements, including the elimination of over one million kilos of plastic in three years. He credited this success to close collaboration with major tour operators and local communities. Projects like the Village Routes initiative aim to bring tourism benefits to rural areas in Cyprus, encouraging visitors to explore beyond the coastline.
CSTI also leads efforts to reduce single-use plastics in hotels, saving thousands of plastic bottles daily. Educational programs have reached over 5,000 students, and CSTI provides free guides to help hotels adopt sustainable practices. The initiative has worked internationally with partners like the UN and IUCN, even during the COVID-19 crisis.
A standout project is “Keep Our Sand and Sea Plastic-Free”, supported by the TUI Care Foundation. It includes awareness campaigns, plastic upcycling, and the creation of plastic-free beaches, with refill stations, reusable bottles and smoking areas to reduce litter.
He concluded with a call to focus not just on recycling, but on avoiding plastic altogether. He encouraged deeper cooperation with Elafonisos, proposing plastic-free events and stronger community engagement to build a tourism model that is sustainable, inclusive, and truly impactful.