A tourism-led environmental initiative launched in Cyprus will expand to Greece this year, bringing businesses and organisations from both countries together for a cross-border clean-up campaign on September 25, 2026.

‘Tourism Cares: Unite for Cleaner Destinations‘ will bring together tourism workers, visitors, diving centres, local communities, environmental organisations and volunteers in Cyprus and Greece for clean-up and awareness activities ahead of World Tourism Day on September 27.

The initiative has also been included in the UN Tourism programme of events for World Tourism Day 2026, giving the Cyprus-born campaign an international platform.

Almost 100 tourism businesses and organisations from Cyprus and Greece have already registered for this year’s initiative, according to the organisers.

The campaign will focus on reducing waste and encouraging more responsible choices within the tourism sector, with activities taking place in locations including beaches, coastlines, seabeds, parks, forests and nature trails.

Particular emphasis will be placed on underwater clean-ups, bringing tourism businesses, diving centres, marine organisations and volunteers together to tackle marine waste.

“If we share the same sea, we share the same responsibility,” the organisers said.

The initiative is intended to go beyond the removal of waste, with organisers seeking to raise awareness and encourage changes in everyday behaviour among tourism workers, visitors and local communities.

Participants will be encouraged to reduce unnecessary waste, limit the use of single-use plastics and turn environmental awareness into everyday action.

The campaign’s organisers said a clean destination could not be created through a single clean-up, but required changes in habits and behaviour.

Tourism Cares has built on two years of activity in Cyprus, with participation and the amount of waste collected increasing between 2024 and 2025.

In 2024, 60 tourism businesses and organisations took part, involving more than 1,650 employees and hotel visitors and resulting in more than 1.5 tonnes of waste being removed.

Participation increased to 75 tourism businesses and organisations in 2025, with more than 2,250 employees and hotel visitors taking part and 2.3 tonnes of waste removed.

This year’s campaign marks the first time that tourism businesses and organisations from Cyprus and Greece have been brought together under the same initiative.

The organisers said the expansion into Greece represented the next step towards a wider goal of connecting tourism communities across the Mediterranean.

They argued that environmental challenges did not stop at national borders and therefore required cooperation, shared responsibility and collective action.

The campaign also seeks to encourage visitors to play a more active role in protecting the destinations they visit, rather than simply consuming the tourism experience.

Tourism Cares is jointly organised by the Cyprus Sustainable Tourism Initiative (CSTI), TUI Care Foundation and TUI Musement, as part of the “Keep our Sand and Sea Plastic Free – Destination Zero Waste Cyprus and Greece” project.

In Cyprus, the initiative is being held under the auspices of the Deputy Ministry of Tourism, with the support of the Commissioner for Environment and Animal Welfare, the Cyprus Hotel Association (Pasyxe), the Association of Cyprus Tourist Enterprises (Stek), the Association of Cyprus Travel Agents (Actta), the Cyprus Association of Tourist Guides (Pasydixe), Hermes Airports and other tourism organisations and bodies.

Tourism businesses and organisations in Cyprus and Greece can organise their own clean-up or awareness activity as part of the campaign on September 25.

Registrations for this year’s initiative will close on September 21, 2026, the organisers confirmed.

The organisers said the campaign was intended to develop from a two-country initiative into a broader Mediterranean movement, with tourism communities working together to protect the natural environments on which the sector depends.