Sex, drugs and drunkenness – despite its efforts, Ayia Napa just can’t shake off its ‘Fantasy Island’ reputation
‘Ayia Napa is not the new Ibiza. This is propaganda. Lies told by British tour companies. They are attracting the wrong people’
It was in the late Nineties that Ayia Napa became the “new Ibiza”, attracting hundreds of thousands of British revellers every summer to a corner of Cyprus previously more or less left alone by tourists.
The boom of low-cost airlines and cheap package deals fused with a blossoming club scene, made this small town on the south-eastern tip of the Mediterranean island the perfect destination for hedonistic teens and twentysomethings.
By the turn of the millennium, Ayia Napa was already sick of its newfound fame. The number of drug offences doubled and complaints about noise and traffic incidents rocketed.
Instances of anti-social behaviour, including the indecent (public sex, streaking etc), also rose dramatically.
High-profile incidents – such as a stabbing at a BBC Radio 1 party – forced Cypriot authorities to consider whether it had a handle on the rise of the resort dubbed “Fantasy Island”.
Despite the apparent pushback on its party credentials, Ayia Napa led the way in the evolution of Club 18-30 holidays, ranking alongside the likes of Magaluf, Marbella and Zante for “sun, sand and sex” destinations.
“Ayia Napa is a respectable quality resort, for quality customers,” Christos Volos told a Telegraph journalist in 2001. Then managing a five-star hotel on the outskirts of town, Mr Volos said: “Ayia Napa is not the new Ibiza, it has never been the new Ibiza and it will never be the new Ibiza. This is propaganda. Lies told by British tour companies. They are attracting the wrong people.”
Such a vehement response did nothing to put off visitors, and Ayia Napa’s reputation as a party resort only grew. Channel 4 – which was responsible for the “Fantasy Island” moniker – featured the town in its reality TV shows, as did MTV.
More recently, it has been the setting for episodes of the BBC Three’s Sun, Sex and Suspicious Parents, in which parents secretly watch the antics of their drunken offspring.
Sexually explicit competitions held in bars – the type that went viral in 2014 in Magaluf, Majorca, prompting authorities to crack down on debauched tourists – have taken place in Ayia Napa, too.
Today, the situation is supposed to have calmed down. Last year, Yiannis Karousos, the mayor of Ayia Napa, called for an end to “low quality youth” tourism, and said the town would take action. Among plans were a new CCTV system and a large investment in a new marina. Months later, Thomas Cook, which owned Club 18-30, said its
“lager-lager, lads-lads-lads” brand would be dismantled.
Ayia Napa is now trying to attract more luxury travellers and young families. But it is unclear whether it’s been successful. It aims to rebrand itself by 2030, so it is still early days.
Tui, Europe’s largest tour operator, sells the destination as “more than a party town”, pointing to 14 beaches, a huge water park, and cultural day trips. But the reputation of Ayia Napa still seems the focus of Foreign Office advice on British holidaymaker safety.
“If you drink, know your limit,” it says. “Drinks served in bars are often stronger than those in the UK.” It also warns women, in particular, to keep an eye on their drink “to avoid spiking”.
Ayia Napa is next year expecting British tourist arrivals to increase, Mr Karousos said in November. Whether that’s a result of the resort’s reputation or efforts to change it is anyone’s guess.