TOURISM officials are conducting spot controls on restaurants around the island, checking for cleanliness, uniformed waiters, clearly placed price lists and general aesthetics, though the latter is more a matter of taste, according to one tourism industry source.
The Cyprus Tourism Organisation (CTO) has been conducting an island-wide campaign to make sure that tourism outlets are sticking to the letter of the law and keeping the level of services high. Restaurants in particular are being checked for their quality of services. The place has to be kept clean, hygienic, with all staff in their proper uniforms, and most importantly menu prices clearly on display.
One industry source told the Cyprus Mail that the CTO inspectors were more likely to make observations to restaurant owners but if the violations were serious then the law provides the opportunity to impose fines.
Many outlets have already been inspected and more inspections are planned for the future. The CTO particularly encourages customers to report any complaints they may have to the organisation so they can follow it up by calling the central line on 22-691100.
For instance, if the price on the receipt is not the same as the price on the menu, they are in trouble, said the industry official.
Regarding the aesthetics of a food joint, the official recognised that telling an owner green and yellow bathroom tiles with red curtains did not make for a good restaurant could be hard to do. “In this case, it’s less about applying the law and imposing penalties but more about giving some advice,” the source said.
Also, apart from making waiters and waitresses wear uniforms, they cannot teach them how to be polite and hospitable, a problem compounded by the fact that so few Cypriots are now employed in the industry. “The most that can be done is to ask them to make sure they speak at least one international language.”
According to the last barometer that CTO commissioned on the tourism industry, Cyprus scored highest in the food and services sector. Customer satisfaction was at its lowest in the transportation sector. Tourists’ biggest gripe was the cost of getting to and from the airport, which sometimes equaled the cost of their budget flights, and the transport options within the cities and between different parts of the island.
