IT WAS understandable that Paphos Mayor Savvas Vergas decided to walk out of a meeting with owners of bars and restaurants in the town’s tourist strip, also known as ‘Bar Street’.
There was nothing he could really have done to reverse the conditions caused by recession and a fall in tourist arrivals.
Vergas came under attack for allegedly doing nothing to help the revival of the strip which was no longer attracting customers.
More than half of the 50 clubs and bars on the strip had closed down, while the rest were fighting for their survival said a representative of the owners. While he insisted that the situation was not as bleak as the owners claimed, he admitted that these were difficult times.
What, after all, did the owners expect the Paphos Municipal Council to do? The suggestion to re-open the one-way street to two-way traffic was laughable; owners claimed that two-way traffic would increase passing traffic and customers.
This is clutching at straws, because nobody was complaining about a lack of customers three years ago, before we had been hit by the recession. The fact that there were 50 bars and clubs on the strip until recently is proof of this.
The harsh reality is that there is very little the mayor and his councillors could do to help the Bar Street establishments.
British tourist arrivals are significantly down, many foreigners who had settled in Paphos have now left, while those who have stayed are going out much less. Not only has the number of potential customers fallen, but we are in the worst recession to have ever hit the island, which means spending is down.
In short, the customers to sustain 50 bars, clubs and restaurants on Kato Paphos’ tourist strip simply do not exist. There may not be enough custom to sustain even the establishments that are currently operating. Owners must be aware of this and accept there is next to nothing the mayor and municipal council can do to help. In the end, the most efficient establishments, offering the most competitive prices, highest quality and best service, will survive. This is how the free market works.
It is absurd to even suggest that opening Bar Street to two-way traffic would make the slightest bit of difference. Perhaps the next time Vergas meets the bar and club owners he should explain that we are in deep recession and businesses all over the island are struggling for survival. And tinkering with the traffic flow will not increase the number of customers.
