Most tourism stories do not begin with a note of tragedy. Still, the story of Varosha, Cyprus, is a sad exception. Once a glittery haven for Hollywood stars and world celebrities, the Nothern Cpyrus seaside resort is now a monument to failed international relations. Still, there’s a glimmer of hope the seaside playground may flourish once again.
News of a possible reclamation of Varosha’s touristic appeal made headlines recently. However, a short history of the abandoned town will help readers understand what happened to the eastern Riviera of the Mediterranean.
Back in 1974, Turkey invaded the island of Cyprus. At least, this is the Greek side of the story. The Turkish version revolves around rescuing Turkish Cypriots from persecution by their fellow islanders of Greek ancestry. Mistrust, anger, and long memories of a conflict that never should have been still eat away at one of the world’s most thrilling islands. One can only imagine what Cyprus could have been if part of it had not been cordoned off like a Cuba of the Mediterranean Sea.
This is a sensitive topic for both the Greeks and the Turks. It’s a bitter war story, an international travesty better for historians to tell. Ultimately, Northern Cyprus and the South ended up being cordoned off. Greeks fled Varosha and other cities and towns in Northern Cyprus, and Turkish people migrated northward. The result for the North was almost total seclusion and international condemnation. The Turks took control of about one-third of the island, leaving the capital city of Nicosia as the only divided capital in Europe. So, Varosha and other resort towns in the North quickly became ghost towns because Northern Cyprus was never recognized by any nation other than Turkey.
Since the partition of Cyprus, adventurous tourists have come to Varosha in increasing numbers. The glamorous resort town now draws just over a million visitors a year. The media refers to this influx as a kind of “dark tourism” practised by those fascinated with just such places—destinations that time forgot. Interestingly, amazingly even, now there’s discussion over a billion-dollar consortium of hoteliers and even British royalty resurrecting Varosha into a kind of Mediterranean Las Vegas. It’s not hard to imagine such a transformation when remembering celebrities like Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Raquel Welch, and Brigitte Bardot sunbathing there in the 60s.
This Cyprus Mail story reveals more about this possibility (however remote). Britain’s Mirror reported that King Charles owned the Golden Sands Hotel, which opened on the beach just outside Famagusta in 1973. This research paper reveals much more about Cyprus tourism development in the 60s and 70s. Believe it or not, this new plan for Northern Cyprus may not be crazy. Dr Muhammet Yasarata, Chairman and CEO of the Paradise and Premier Group of Companies, told Cyprus Mail this:
For too long America has held Las Vegas as a shining example of what can be achieved through strategic investment. It is about time Europe had a contender to attract tourists from all corners of the globe. What better place to establish a rival, than in a historically significant tourist destination that has languished unused and neglected for far too long.
If Greece and Turkey could come to some agreement, then the people of Cyprus, and millions of tourists, may one day enjoy a forgotten paradise in the Northern part of the island of Aphrodite. I find it fascinating that the city’s beach is still a magnet for sun-loving adventurers. The Instagram below shows a beautiful sunbather in the shadow of long abandoned five-star hotels enjoying one of the most magnificent beaches in the world. If you search Instagram and other channels, there are thousands of photos and videos of “dark tourists” exploring the town with only a few hundred residents now.
To borrow from the Dark Tourism website, Lonely Planet’s guidebook for Cyprus (7th ed., 2018) called Palm Beach “the weirdest beach you’ll ever visit.” This was before a tourists were once again allowed into parts of the city by the Turkish military in 2020. Prior to this, people entering the resort and/or taking photos were arrested. It seems that the biggest issue preventing any reconciliation between Northern Cyprus (Turkey) and Greece has to do with a UN resolution declaring Greek properties in towns like Varosha must be returned to their Greek owners first. Well, in all honesty, this is the least of the barriers keeping what was one of the world’s top tourist destinations a ghost town.