Today we started off with our final company visit to GAP Vassilopoulos, a logistics service provider that does pretty much everything a trader could ask for. They provided a very good example of vertical integration (this is when a company essentially becomes a “one-stop shop” for anything that is related to their core business, like owning all the transportation trucks, a travel agency, the manufacturing plants, etc. that make a company’s product possible), walking us through how they got into each business that they did in order to minimize costs and control more of their supply chain processes. Their total business spanned the sectors of transport and logistics, financial and human asset management, hospitality and consumer, and environmental, which meant that they have a hand in everything from airlines to hotels to invoicing to shipping and warehousing to courier services to terminal card processing to insurance to water treatment. All of this sounds like a lot, and it is—GAP is by far the largest logistics company in the country, with 1,500 varying locations in Cyprus alone and operations in 11 countries total. They work with DP World and P & O Maritime Services for anything port or ship related in Limassol, UPS for their international courier services, and have developed an app they call Fetch to offer a consumer marketplace for retail goods. All the while, the presenters emphasized much about transparency and the balance between lean and agile approaches. In their business, as Mr. Vassilopoulos explained, the use of visibility and transparency is not only good for internal operations (as in monitoring each part of the supply chain to ensure everything runs smoothly together) but also externally in customer views (as it builds trust in the company to know that they deliver on their word and will do everything possible to fix any issues). Equally essential, we learned, is the shift to agility in the company’s operations, since the lean approach (which favors cost-cutting as much as possible and efficiency of production above all) taught GAP during COVID that it’s no longer enough to operate on standardization, and that to be successful you have to cater to customer needs (and be prepared to be flexible in the event of an issue). The entire presentation was interesting and informative, and it was clear that everyone we met truly loved what they do and genuinely wanted to talk to us. It was so amazing that it might have been my favorite company visit of all!

After our company visit, our next stop was to the local Nicosia Farmer’s Market, which we walked around briefly. The stalls set up all had delicious and fresh-looking produce ready for purchase, along with some other homemade products (like bread and some jarred pastes, spreads, or juices). While checking everything out, I saw the famous Cypriot potatoes in full view of customers, the potassium-rich soil that provides their distinct taste still clinging to the outside. I even got to sample some of the offerings, including a type of apricot and one other small fruit (our guide unfortunately didn’t know the English name, and it isn’t found in the US). Both were good, and tasted absolutely refreshing in the heat! The whole little area was cute, and I wish I could have bought some things to take home (customs would have confiscated it, unfortunately), but it was a treat nonetheless to experience it.

We wrapped up our afternoon with free time in Nicosia’s old town again to grab lunch, wander Ledras Street (the main shopping area), and then go up Shacolas Tower. At the top of the tower, we reached this amazing lookout point that allowed us to see over the entire city in all four directions! I even noticed some things I hadn’t from the ground, like the image of the Turkish flag (in the occupied North, of course) in the mountains for all to see. It was also easy to spot the Green Line and some of the historic landmarks we’d already seen on the ground, which was pretty cool. I certainly got some great aerial shots of the city out of it!

Our final part of today was the group dinner we had at the University of Nicosia’s restaurant, The Loft. It was an evening filled with delicious foods, good conversation, and even alumni networking (5 Pitt graduates, mostly for graduate school or PhDs, that live in the country actually showed up to speak with us, which was very nice of them). I also got the excuse to dress up and take some fun group and solo pictures with the perfect sunset background, which was also great. Overall, the entire day was enjoyable, with multiple types of activities to make me appreciate this incredible city!