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28th March 2024
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HomeInvestmentDisneyland-style theme park at Pyla?

Disneyland-style theme park at Pyla?

WE recently reported how the Cyprus Government had announced plans to increase the number of golf courses on the island from from three to fourteen in an effort to help boost the numbers of tourists visiting the island.

Over the weekend, the Greek-language newspaper Politis revealed the plans of four Russian investors who are looking to build a Disneyland-style tourist theme park at Pyla. At an estimated cost of €800 million the project would be the largest foreign capital investment ever made in Cyprus said Charilaos Stavrakis, the Minister of Finance.

The consultants working on behalf of the investors believe that the theme park will bring many benefits to Cyprus; it will create 3,000 new jobs and, more importantly for the economy, attract half a million high purchasing power tourists annually from the former Eastern bloc countries.

The proposed theme park will cover an area of some 600 donums (around 80 hectares) and could be situated in the UN buffer zone that currently separates the Greek & Turkish Cypriot communities.

The Russian government is aware of the plans and seems to support the project, particularly as the site proposed will allow it to exercise increased influence in the politics of the island. The Cyprus government is currently reviewing the application submitted by the Boema Group (who represents the interests of the Russian investors). If given the go ahead, the theme park will have two main entrances – one on the southern side and one on the northern and will have Turkish-themed attractions.

The park will seek to gain the reputation of being the ‘Euro Disney of the Mediterranean’.  It will include a 1,000 room five star hotel that will be shaped so that all the rooms have a view of the gardens. Plans for the theme park will include various attractions such as a water park, cinemas, theatres, auditoriums, stadiums – some of which will have closed roofs inspired by the Egyptian pyramids, a ski centre, waterfalls, adventure parks, shops, spas, saunas, Roman baths and a museum.

Plan of the proposed theme park at Pyla

The general theme of the park will be inspired by Greek mythology and the history of Cyprus and this will be reflected in the various rides on offer. The name chosen for the project, “Pygmalion and Galatea”, is also taken from Greek mythology.

There are many difficulties to overcome before the project can be given the go ahead. Contacts have already been made with the interested parties including the UN, the government and the two mayors of Pyla; it appears possible that many of these obstacles can be overcome.

However, if the difficulties prove to be too great, there is a ‘Plan B’ for the construction of the park on state-owned land at another location.

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