Quality of Cyprus tourism a one way street, says President

THE quality of the Cyprus tourism industry is a one way street, Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades said yesterday.
President Anastasiades was addressing the graduation ceremony of the Higher Hotel Institute of Cyprus (HHIC) in a speech delivered by his Office’s Director Panayiotis Antoniou.
He further pledged he will fight at EU level for measures to be taken which will give young people a chance to work and to use their skills.
The financial crisis, he said, has highlighted once more tourism’s essential contribution to the economy of Cyprus as well as the multiple positive effects it has on other economic sectors such as the property sector, financial services, trade and agriculture.
“For the Cyprus tourism industry, quality is a one way street, so that it may compete effectively with other cheaper tourist destinations which are increasing on the tourist map,” he said.
Anastasiades referred to the various measures taken by the government to support tourism, including a fund of €21 million for the employment of 6,000 unemployed people in the tourist industry.
He further noted that the Cabinet has already decided for the establishment of another two programmes to combat unemployment, one of which concerning purely the hotel and restaurant industry.
He said also the government aims to lengthen the tourist season by two months.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.