The need to attract quality tourism that can be resilient to continuous crises and the need for the tourist to experience the Cypriot experience when travelling in Cyprus, both the Minister of Transport, Communications and Works Yannis Karousos and the Deputy Minister of Tourism Savvas Perdios stressed, speaking at a conference organised on Tuesday by the Cyprus Tourism Business Association (CTO) on "Tourism: The Next Day".
In particular. Karousos said that quality tourism comes through the integrated tourism experience, while stressing that "without air connectivity we are not going to see quality visitors."
The Transport Minister said that to achieve this goal "we need to create such a tourist resort so that visitors have such unique experiences and memories so that when they return back home they take a little bit of Cyprus with them, a little bit of the tourist resort they have visited, so that we have repeat visitors."
"For me, quality tourism is the kind of tourist and the kind of product that we will prepare that will result in three things: The first is that we will create a destination that visitors will enjoy, the second is that businesses will prosper and the third is that residents will be proud of their resort."
Referring to Cyprus' air connectivity, Mr. Karousos said that there is a remarkable effort in cooperation with the Deputy Ministry of Tourism, Hermes and several others and "we managed in the midst of the crisis and in the midst of the pandemic to have more destinations available, more options compared to 2019."
He added that in 2021 we had 158 destinations, while in 2019, which was the best tourist season and passenger traffic, we had 150 and more or less the same airlines.
Noting that the Deputy Minister of Tourism insisted that we had to open up France and convince airlines to include it in their destinations, Mr. Karousos said that "for several years there were no direct flights and now we have flights to almost all Paris airports, Toulouse, Lyon, Strasbourg and more will come."
In addition, the Transport Minister said that with Cyprus' initiative for the Declaration on Air Connectivity and its adoption by 13 other EU member states, "we are asking the European Commission to present a concrete plan for the support and recovery of air transport, but also to give us the tools - because now with state aid there are enough problems - to support air connectivity."
"One of the objectives of the Declaration, apart from the tools and pressure on the European Commission to support aviation, we want to put in a definition of what minimum air connectivity means," he said.
For his part, Deputy Minister of Tourism Savvas Perdios said that every year there is a new crisis in tourism and stressed that the Deputy Ministry's effort is "to build a tourism that is more resilient than before, so that these crises that will continue to come every year can be dealt with."
The Deputy Minister then referred to the two aspects of tourism quality and said that the first is quality at the destination level and the second is quality at the private sector.
In relation to quality at the tourism level, Mr. Perdios said that in the Deputy Ministry "we tried despite the pandemic crisis to make some products that can give a new identity to Cyprus" and added that "we have to leave quality labels that can put in the mind of the visitor what Cyprus means".
Referring to 12 examples on which the Deputy Ministry has worked over the past two years, Perdios said that the first one concerns Cyprus' theme parks and stressed that "the aim is to certify many theme parks so that their level can be raised in general".
He said that the second label concerns beaches and added that Cyprus has 75 beaches with a blue flag but the most important thing, he said, is that Cyprus has the cleanest waters in Europe" with a 100% purity rate, according to the European Environment Agency.
He then referred to Cypriot gastronomy and said, among other things, that it is not enough to say that Cyprus has good food and added that it is different to refer to a Cypriot breakfast which "automatically puts an identity in the mind of the visitor".
Perdios also referred to the need to create Vegan Friendly hotels and restaurants, noting that 150 businesses in Cyprus have joined this label.
He also mentioned among other things the need to promote Cypriot wines, but also the need to highlight Cypriot nature and Cypriot villages, which will be given the opportunity to be promoted globally.
"The way of promoting Cyprus abroad has changed. We are not saying that we are an island of sun and sea," he said, adding that "what we are saying is that Cyprus is not only an island of sun and sea but is also rich in history, culture and experiences, among other things.
"What makes Cyprus different is not that these experiences exist but that one can find them by travelling very short distances," he stressed.
Speaking at the conference, the President of the Greek National Tourism Organisation (GNTO) Angela Gerekou said that Cyprus can be a "success story" for the next day.
Moreover, speaking at the conference, the President of the Greek National Tourism Organisation (GNTO) Angela Gerekou said that Cyprus can be a "success story" for the next day.
She referred to the crises of both the pandemic and the war in Ukraine and added these two crises coming together with the second crisis, she said, "being humanitarian, economic and geopolitical shows us how vulnerable we are and how vulnerable tourism is and how resilient it becomes each time by managing these crises."
Gerekou said she firmly believes that the only solution to these crises is quality tourism and added that to achieve this, "the floor must be given to the modern traveller".
"Almost 50% of travelers much more important than in the period before the pandemic," she said, adding that "the desire of travelers to take their lives back is so strong that at the moment it seems that it is difficult to be curbed enough, despite the war in Ukraine and the crisis."
He also said that "sustainable business and environmentally friendly policies are a constant demand" and stressed that "making the traveller feel local is the most important experience and thus they will take a piece of our country with them."
Finally, STEC President Akis Vavlitis referred to the continuous crises since 2001 and figures on tourism and added that "there must be a serious reduction in our over-dependence on one or two countries."
Finally, STEC President Akis Vavlitis referred to the continuous crises since 2001 and figures on tourism and added that "there must be a serious reduction in our over-dependence on one or two countries.
He said that until 2008 Cyprus had tourism from the UK reaching 57% of total arrivals, while in 2019 we had two countries, the UK with 36% and Russia with 21%.
"Almost all other Mediterranean tourist countries are not more than 20% dependent on one country," he added. Vavlitis said that since its inception, STEC has been saying that "quality tourism is a one-way street for a thriving hotel industry and prosperous economy."
Referring to figures on tourism revenues, Mr. Vavlitis said that in 2019 while arrivals were up by 1.28 million compared to 2001, "we had €140 million less," adding that "this clearly shows us that we need to shift towards higher quality tourism."
"Our objective should be to increase added value and not just to increase the number of tourists," he said, adding that these figures, among other things, should give rise to reflection on the tourism product offered, its pricing and the use of sales channels, among other things.
Source: CNA
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