The effort to address the impact on tourism of the sanctions imposed on Russia must be common, said General Secretary of AKEL, Stefanos Stefanou, speaking at a meeting with tourism operators in the Limassol district.
The meeting, held on Tuesday afternoon, is the second in a row, as it was preceded yesterday by a meeting with Larnaca tourism operators in the presence of the party's parliamentary representative, George Loukaides.
As AKEL's General Secretary said in a brief introductory speech, the party considered it appropriate to hold these meetings in each affected province, since each one is experiencing the problems expected in the tourism industry differently.
He noted that these meetings "do not simply aim to have an exchange of views, but the aim is to complete the thoughts and proposals we are making, in order to help within the collective effort that must be made by all government, parliament and parties to face the difficulties".
"We have no intention either of doing opposition or of doing petty politics," he continued, adding that as AKEL "we want to help to face the great difficulties that await us."
Saying that tourism will be one of the spheres of economic life that will be under particular pressure and hit, Mr. Stefanou noted that AKEL expects negative consequences also in other sectors, such as energy, land development, etc.
Referring to tourism from abroad, he said that everyone recognises that the losses will be great "and that is why we must reflect on this, as well as the fact that, even if the war ends, we do not know when the sanctions will end."
We should, he continued, "think with a time horizon so that we don't get caught in hexaphores in the next period," and stressed that "when we claim some things, we have to be very specific and targeted about what we ask for and how we substantiate it, so that we can get something from the Europeans."
Among other things, he stressed the importance of domestic tourism and suggested that "we need to deal more thoroughly and consistently with what, over the last several years, has been relegated to the background."
Cyprus, he continued, invested in domestic tourism during the lockdown period and noted that we should not only remember it when we need it, "we should give it a timelessness and see how we integrate it into our strategic planning."
The meeting, which was attended by representatives of EVEL, ETAL, POVEK and other stakeholders, included views and suggestions for addressing the challenges posed to tourism by the ongoing war in Ukraine and the sanctions imposed on Russia.
The round of meetings will conclude tomorrow in Ayia Napa (11.00) and Paphos (17.00), in the presence of the Secretary General of AKEL and the Parliamentary Representative of the party, respectively.
Source: CNA
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