NEW MEASURES to assist ailing tourism will from now on go through an “efficiency filter”, the Commerce Minister announced yesterday, adding that this year’s measures had managed to avert huge drops in arrivals.
The new measures would be announced in October Minister Antonis Paschalides told the
House Commerce Committee.
Paschalides said the government was at the final stages of evaluating how efficient the last measures were – which included incentives to the hotel industry to help hotels reduce prices and attract more tourists.
“At a time when everyone was expecting a 20 to 30 per cent reduction in tourism, following the implementation of our measures, this was restricted to 10.9 per cent, which translates into 145,000 less tourists compared to 2008,” said the minister.
This percentage is predicted to reduce further in regards to winter tourism, he added, where the relevant measures were better aimed.
Paschalides called on hoteliers and nightclub owners to make some sacrifices and remain open during the winter period, in order to encourage winter tourism.
“We can’t become complacent; the efficiency of the measures that were taken and the measures that will be taken are already under evaluation, because the government’s position is that the tourism industry must be supported,” said Paschalides.
Over the summer, the biggest reduction in tourist bookings was noted in Limassol, followed by the free Famagusta area (Agia Napa, Protaras and Paralimni) and then Larnaca. Paphos experienced the smallest drop in tourism.
The measures approved by the government last March included tax and airport duty reductions. The €50 million bill for these measures will be picked up by taxpayers.
But as the Director General of the Cyprus Tourism Organisation (CTO), Phoebe Katsouri, pointed out, the industry is currently facing serious structural problems.
And according to the head of the Association of Cypriot Travel Agencies, Victor Mantovani, the government funds could be distributed much more efficiently. “For example, if they are given to travel agents instead of being spent on advertising, we can have better results with fewer funds,” he claimed. He said this could be proved by the 14 per cent increase in arrivals from Germany, where the funds were given to travel agents instead of advertising.
Hoteliers were also complaining, with their overall profits dropping by 20 per cent in the first trimester of the year and 13 per cent in the second trimester, compared to the year before.
The general director of the Cyprus Hotels Association PASYXE, Zacharias Ioannides said: “Essentially, we are watching the king of touristic economy being stripped bare. Cyprus is currently in the losers’ group, according to statistics by the International Tourism Organisation.”
Ioannides blamed, among others, the high prices charged by state airline Cyprus Airways.
Speaking later following the meeting, Ioannides said tourism was facing its most difficult year yet. He added that the government’s measures had helped in eliminating the extent of the effects of the financial crisis.
Committee Chairman Lefteris Christoforou of DISY said everyone needed to look at the harsh reality of what Cyprus tourism had become. He added that this was not just a problem that arose following the global financial crisis, but something that has been building up for many years now.
All MPs agreed that the government’s new measures should be announced as soon as possible.
