Within the framework of the Interreg Europe project INDUSTOUR – Visiting Industrial Companies and Sites as a Growing Lever to Diversify Tourism Policies, the team of the Nicosia Tourism Board visited two local companies on Friday, 13 March 2025: Alion Vegetables & Fruits Co Ltd and the Papafilippou Ice Cream Museum, to explore opportunities for developing industrial tourism in the Nicosia region.
Industrial tourism is not limited to former industrial sites such as mines or former factories but also includes visits to active companies and production facilities, offering visitors the opportunity to discover local industries and manufacturing processes. This approach helps diversify tourism products while creating educational experiences that connect visitors, especially younger generations, with local economic activities.
In Cyprus, particularly in the Nicosia region, where heavy industry is limited, sectors such as agriculture and food production offer a promising opportunity for developing sustainable and diversified industrial tourism experiences.
Food Education and Agricultural Production at Alion
Alion Vegetables & Fruits Co Ltd is based in Pera Chorio, in the Nicosia district.
The company has already integrated guided visits into its activities, offering educational tours that combine food education, awareness of sustainable agriculture and the importance of healthy nutrition.
The initiative was initially developed in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and regularly welcomes school groups, allowing students to better understand how food is produced, handled, and distributed, as well as the role of agriculture in everyday life. Alion is now exploring ways to further expand and improve these visits by opening them to a broader audience and enhancing the visitor experience. Discussions during the visit also highlighted the company’s use of digital tools and the potential to strengthen visitor services and reception infrastructure.
Discovering the history of ice cream in Cyprus
The Papafilippou Ice Cream Museum represents an example of how a production site can evolve into a structured industrial tourism experience.
The museum already welcomes numerous school groups and university students who visit the facility as part of educational activities.
During the visit, participants can observe the ice-cream production process and to explore the museum exhibition, which presents the history of ice cream and the development of the ice-cream industry in Europe, with a particular focus on Cyprus.
The museum demonstrates significant potential to further develop into a diversified industrial tourism product.
Towards new industrial tourism products in Nicosia
These meetings represented an important first step towards identifying opportunities for the development of industrial tourism in the Nicosia region. The discussions with both companies were productive and confirmed the potential to further develop these initiatives into structured tourism products.
