The traditional village of Pissouri is located in the South-West part of Cyprus and constitutes the third largest village of the district Limassol concerning its administrational territory. Although the village of Pissouri constitutes a part of Limassol, its geographic position, in the middle of the route between Limassol and Paphos, offers a variety of different advantages. Limassol and Paphos comprise two of the most attractive and famous tourist destinations in Cyprus. Both cities are poles of attraction of thousands tourists all over the world every year. Pissouri offers an exquisite landscape, where the most beautiful colors of nature, green and blue, namely the mountain and the sea, are harmonically combined mesmerizing all visitors. The beauty of the site in combination with the active concern of community and private bodies motivated the development and the growth of Pissouri. The progress of the village is simultaneously manifested on a tourist and a residential level. It is worth mentioning that Pissouri is one of the destinations that meet the standards of a modern visitor, since it offers hospitable places for entertainment and one of the most clean and organized beaches. One could assume that Pissouri can be characterized as one of the most attractive areas of Cyprus in qualitative terms. Apart from its ability to combine the comfort of the sea and the magic scenery of the mountain, it is widely accepted that it has all the facilities and luxuries required for a pleasant and ideal staying.
As aforementioned, Pissouri has completed the infrastructure needed to become an attractive tourist destination, as well as to offer an easy access and staying both to the local people and tourist. The community council, within the frame of its attempts for tourist development, has upgraded its tourist services, the projection and promotion of the village, the reservation of its cultural heritage, and the completion and design of projects within these parameters, such as embellishment of the beach with the construction of sidewalks and afforestation along the coast. Additionally, the beach is an all time classic since is offers practical shops like a bank, supermarket and taverns with delightful meals. The golf option is another positive element, as Pissouri is located near famous golf clubs where various tourists are involved in the activities and tournaments of these clubs throughout the year.
Pissouri is the ideal destination for all who seek knowledge through culture, since it is located near the archaeological sites of Palaipahos and Kourio. Qualitative tourism in Pissouri will probably develop within the next years, since the policy of the community council will include “maintenance of cultural heritage by preserving old traditional houses and by creating of traditional pedestrian precincts”.
As mentioned earlier, residential and tourist growth in Pissouri seem to follow a parallel route. According to the developmental survey conducted by the community of Pissouri, the housing growth rate in 2004-2005 is estimated to have reached 61%. The residential development in the village is primarily owed to the continuous effort for upgrade regarding the quality of life. Representative of this tendency is the policy of the community council to help the “social and financial prosperity of the inhabitants” of Pissouri and the neighboring villages. This policy helps attract more young people to live there and preserve the existing inhabitants. Locals and foreigners build houses. To sum up, residential and tourist growth in Pissouri is evident. It does not, however, denature its local character and its natural beauty. This saltation in growth will continue its course due to the will of community and private bodies.
Within the scopes of Strategic Planning for the growth and the upgrade of our community, the Community Council of Pissouri began to create a series of important work of infrastructure so that it can satisfy the continuous increasing needs of residents including
- Embellishment of the village square
- Community Amphitheatre of the capacity of 1000 people
- Asphalting of ‘Kiladas Street’ that connects the main village with the beach of the Community.
- Embellishment of the coastal pedestrian walkway.
- Landscape Construction and planting of trees along the beach
- Renovation of the offices where the services of the Community Council are accommodated
There is no doubt that Pissouri has the prospect and potential to become an operational basis for every company willing to invest in Cyprus in a variety of different fields and business categories. Concerning the medical dimension, as well as the parameter of medical tourism it is generally accepted that Cyprus is an emerging medical tourism industry and has all the required capacity and infrastructure both in qualitative and quantitative terms, to be a medical destination for medical and tourist travellers. Its geographic position in the middle of three continents, its excellent Mediterranean climate which is appropriate for rapid recovery after treatments and surgery, the quality of its services and the high efficiency of its medical staff, constitute only some of the basic features which Cyprus maintains and seeks to pursue more directly, in order to become a stronger peripheral medical destination where EAST meets WEST.