The Gold in the ‘Tours/City Tours/Walking Tours/Day Cruises/Yachting’ category is for the island’s first sensory tour for the visually impaired; created and organised by LTB in collaboration with the Saint Barnabas School for the Blind. The pilot tour was held in May 2022 and has since been replicated for further groups with great success.

 The guided, city walking tour focuses on creating a sensory experience by visiting two popular museums where the historical artefacts can be explored in interactive ways. The Pierides Museum – Bank of Cyprus Cultural Foundation specifically created a tour that incorporates touching authentic exhibits and smelling reproduced ancient perfumes.

 At Kyriazis Medical Museum – perhaps the only museum where visitors are encouraged to touch the exhibits – visitors feel the artefacts. The tour also includes a visit to ceramic workshops at the Larnaka Art Workshops Neighbourhood where participants create with clay, as well as a visit to several of the award-winning Larnaka Storytelling Statues. The interactive experience has been adapted and enriched by creating a 3D replica of the head of the statue of Zeno of Kition that is felt whilst listening to ‘his’ narration and the tour guide’s information. The 3D-printed replica was created specifically for the tour by the Youth Board of Cyprus’ Youth Makerspace Larnaka.

 The pilot tour was borne from the need to offer cultural experiences for a diverse range of visitors, such as those with sensory disabilities (auditory and visual) following LTB’s participation in European programmes and has led to increased awareness within the tourism industry, and new, inclusive options for tourists.