All-inclusive packages are killing tourist industry

Sir,

Once again there seems to be a great deal of letters in your paper from people like myself complaining about the tourist numbers in Paphos.

Perhaps tourism is not as far down as people believe – hotel beds remaining empty is true, but there are now nearly 30 per cent extra beds available with the addition of various new hotels in Paphos. But the poor trade at bars and clubs is mostly due to the fact many of the hotels are all-inclusive, usually offering cheap and tacky entertainment, but hey the drinks are free!

The all-inclusive offers are funded by the Cyprus government/tourist authority and this is crippling if not killing the street trade as people are less likely to come out and spend €30-40 in a bar when they can get drunk for free at their hotel.

The money paid to the hotels to offer all-inclusive would be better spent on advertising and promoting Cyprus, its tourist attractions and the many bars, clubs and restaurants, or certainly to regulate the hotels that can offer all inclusive to the ‘out of town’ hotels.

In my experience as an entertainer, I hear the biggest complaints from the people that have travelled all-inclusive, such as, “we come out because the entertainment in the hotel is terrible” or “why should we buy a drink here when we can have one at our hotel for free?” I know for sure that those people that I have met that were all-inclusive have vowed not to return to Cyprus or at the very least not in such a package.

It seems crazy to me that so many hotels are offering these deals, and you only have to stand for a few minutes down at Paphos harbour to see how many colours of armbands you can spot from the various all-inclusive hotels.

As an entertainer, I have lost a great deal of money this season and I know the bars and restaurants have lost even more, I am not sure how I stand, but pretty sure the bar owners can sue the CTO/government for loss of earning because of this stupidity.

My feeling is that once we have had someone visit Cyprus on an all-inclusive deal, we should not expect to see them back next year, but it seems no one cares any more!

Dave Roach

Paphos

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