Tour operators warn hoteliers to look to their competitors as Egypt and Turkey win in the battle for the region’s tourists
CYPRUS needs to look at what its competitors are doing if it wants to rescue its ailing tourism, industry experts told a hoteliers conference this week.
Thomson Holidays representative Geoffrey Bezina said two decades ago the island’s biggest competitors were Greece and Spain but in the last decade Turkey and Egypt had taken the lead in the region.
“Cyprus needs to look carefully at what its competitors are doing an re-establish itself in the market and hoteliers need to adapt fast or miss the boat,’ he said.
Bezina said Turkey had improved its image both dramatically and rapidly.
“There are thousands of new five-star beds, a third new airport and 13 new golf courses,” he said.
Tunisia has also vastly improved, Bezina said but “the new star on the block is Egypt,” which has improved over the last three years, offering quality accommodation at affordable prices.
“Our Egypt programme has the same bed capacity in winter as Cyprus in the summer,” he said. “While the overall standard of hotels here is good it’s still behind Egypt and Turkey.”
Overseas purchasing manger for First Choice, Angela Mazzey said that both Turkey and Egypt, despite such obstacles as bird-flu scares and terrorist attacks, had managed to increase their tourism.
“In the UK money is short and people are looking for discounts and bargains and value for money,” she said.
“Cyprus was always perceived as a quality destination but now you can find quality all over.”
Mazzey said there was a lack of good quality four and five-star hotels in Cyprus, which was the mainstay of First Choice.
She also said once a tourist left their luxury hotel they were thrown into a two-star environment.
“It’s not what people expect from a high quality destination like Cyprus,” she said.
“We all hear about golf and marinas and casinos but we have yet to see them. What are you offering to keep your customers? Are you providing the facilities and services they look for? What has changed in Cyprus in the last ten years?”
Bezina said in contrast to Cyprus, hoteliers in both Turkey and Egypt had become innovative when it came to what they had to offer.
He said Turkey’s and Egypt’s key resorts had state-of-the-art airports, some seven-star hotels, personalised service on the beach. Some even had full-size football pitches and one had a water-front ice rink built.
“Creating add-on quality is essential,” said Bezina. “In Egyptian hotels you don’t see sofa beds or bunk beds in family rooms.”
Bezina said this was the most challenging period in Cyprus history and hotels would have to quickly adapt some innovative ways.
“I still see dirty unkempt beaches here,” he said. “Local authorities must be monitored and made sure sea fronts kept pristine. There has also been a disturbing rise in crime. One tourist was mugged twice in two weeks”.
Mazzey complained particularly about Paphos airport. “If you arrive there on a busy Wednesday afternoon in summer you will see people fainting in the heat waiting for an hour to get their luggage.”
The advice of both British operators was to keep ahead of the competition, be aware of a changing market and to work with operators to deliver the right product at the right price.
Noel Josephides, president of the UK-based Association of Greek Cypriot Travel Agents (AGTA), said tourism was a fashion industry and that Cyprus was “so last year”.
“We have to wait for the wheel to turn,” he said. “It will turn but the question is will we all be in business when it does.”
