CYPRUS Tourism Organisation (CTO) chairman Panos Englezos said yesterday there was a crisis plan in the pipeline to counter the possibility of a global recession next year.
Englezos was speaking a day after the Hotels’ Association PASYXE called for urgent measures to offset the expected global drop in tourism in 2009.
PASYXE said the measures, including VAT cuts for hotels, needed to be in place prior to the World Tourism Organisation’s fair in London on November 10.
In this way, they would be able to offer tour operators and airlines a better deal for choosing Cyprus next year.
Englezos said a plan had already been given to the government by the CTO that included some financial incentives for the industry, and more money to the CTO for promotion.
“Our information from international organisations and the World Tourism Organisation is that the first six months of 2009 will be difficult,” the CTO chairman told state radio.
“We have made a plan, and as the President said yesterday, it will be looked at by the government.”
However, he said the plan alone was not enough to save the industry. “It will take all sectors of the industry,” he added.
Englezos said the plan included efforts to target countries that had not been affected by the international financial crisis.
He also said that so far Cyprus was not experiencing a slowdown for the upcoming winter 2008 season. In fact, he said predicted arrivals would surpass 2007 figures by between 60,000 and 80,000.
Phidias Karas, the general secretary of the Association of Tourist Enterprises (STEK), which represents a group of hotels on the higher end of the market, said the tourism industry in Cyprus was already at breaking point, and that hotels would be very vulnerable to the global crisis.
“The first challenge is to keep Cyprus on the tourism map,” he said.
He also said conditions should be created so that Cyprus could offer the most competitive package possible.
Last month in total, tourism to Cyprus fell 3.2 per cent year on year.
The September fall, the second consecutive drop, was due to a significant reduction in the arrival of British tourists.
Britain, one of the countries hardest hit by the credit crunch, is the island’s second biggest market, accounting for well over 50 per cent of all 2.4 million or so arrivals. In September, arrivals from Britain slumped 11.6 per cent compared to September 2007.
Decreases were also recorded from Greece, some 3.5 per cent, and Germany 2.4 per cent.
Since the beginning of this year, tourism arrivals have fallen a total of 0.3 per cent over the first nine months of 2007.
Tourism is one of two pillars of the economy that are under threat from the global crisis. The other one is property.
Both issues have been selected as a priority in any plan to ward off the effects of the looming global recession, whose effect may not be fully felt until next year.
Unconfirmed reports yesterday said President Demetris Christofias had planned a meeting with five ministers to work through how recession might affect each of their sectors.
The Minsters of Finance, Transport, Interior, Labour and Trade were named as those who would be called to the meeting, the report said.
