Now that the financial services sector has taken such a big blow, from which it is unlikely to recover soon, political attention is being redirected at tourism, its poor cousin. Tourism was the second biggest earner of the economy, but its contribution was half that of financial services, and was therefore neglected over the last few years. But now the politicians have re-discovered its importance and are looking for ways to boost arrivals and extend the tourist season.
However this week’s news was not so good. Arrivals were down by about 6.6 per cent in 2013, reported the CTO, with only the Russian market showing a healthy growth of 20 per cent; the two other major markets UK and Germany were down by eight and 30 per cent respectively. The bad publicity we received in March and April regarding the Eurogroup meetings, the bail-in and the closure of the banks could not have been very helpful and could explain why arrivals are down during a bumper season for rival destinations.
Things had gone quite well the previous two years. Visits were up by 10 per cent in 2011 and by three per cent last year. This year’s disappointing figures may also be related to the CTO’s reduced budgets for advertising and promotion. We should also not underestimate the fact that Cyprus is a relatively expensive destination both in terms of air fares and hotel accommodation, not to mention the cost of living, which remains high despite the recession.
New strategic planning is required for the industry even though the very idea has become something of a running joke. We can never forget Giorgos Lillikas’ memorable words when, as commerce minister of the Papadopoulos government in 2003, he presented his five-year strategic plan for tourism “with an emphasis on implementation”. That a minister felt obliged to say this revealed how seriously successive governments pursued their strategic plans for tourism. The irony was that Lillikas, despite talk of setting up some 10 golf courses, also proved rather weak on the implementation aspect of his grandiose plan.
Now the DISY deputy leader Lefteris Christoforou has decided to carry the tourism torch. Earlier this week he announced that DISY would mount a ‘tourism attack’ with the objective of establishing the island as an all-year tourist destination. A great idea but there needs to be a very heavy emphasis on implementation for it to be realised. Christoforou said DISY would organise a broad meeting of all interested parties with the aim of putting together a plan for the restructuring of the tourist product. Aware that previous plans failed, Christoforou said that there would be a “strategic basis that would be implemented, unlike the past when all strategic planning for tourism failed to achieve its targets.”
A policy of open skies was mooted by Christoforou, something that should have been done a long time ago but successive governments chose to protect Cyprus Airways. He also wants the island to attract visitors all year round – a good idea but easier said than done. While Cyprus could be sold as a sunny winter destination to people in cold northern countries, would there be enough hotels to put them up? And to start with, in order to establish the tourist flow, hotels that stayed open would have to take a loss. It is doubtful cash-strapped hotels would be prepared to do this.
Another question is whether there are enough winter activities for tourists. The climate is ideal for golf, but there are not enough courses and the few there are are very expensive; it is also very good for tennis but there are not enough courts because of low local interest. We cannot offer skiing because we never know if there would be snow on the mountains. Agrotourism, which attracts a different kind of visitor, has been growing but it will never have the numbers that would make a real difference to the economy.
We do not know if Christoforou’s initiative will come to anything, but there is most definitely a pressing need to re-think, re-invent and re-market our tourist product. And we should try to find ways to extend the tourism season, even if this is a gradual process. Every improvement we make would have a positive effect on the economy but there has to be a vision and we must abandon the ‘short-term gain’ thinking that has always plagued the tourism industry. For once we must have a long-term strategic plan with more than just an emphasis on implementation.
