I am wondering after reading this article published in the Cypriot Financial Mirror what measures did the politicians have taken to boost tourism. I can tell you than they do not care less, they do not give a dam and on the other hand side they say it will be no decrease or no crisis in the Cyprus Tourism Industry.
My dear readers, they think they can cheat all of us by giving false numbers. The situation in the Cypriot Tourism serves the micro interests of few people who I have their names, surnames, company names, what they do in those companies and how this situation is benefiting them. They are a few businessmen in Cyprus who DO NOT WANT to have for flights to the Country. I have proves who they are and I can any time prove that they are making lots of money out of the situation. You want names contact me, I can only give them to private people …. Please read the article of below published in the Financial Mirror on December 21st 2008.
"The International Air Carrier Association (IACA) has welcomed the recent joint efforts of Eurocypria, Cyprus Airways, the Cyprus Tourist Organisation and the Minister of Commerce, Industry and Tourism to improve tourist accessibility to Cyprus, but again warned that concrete action is urgently needed by the government to correct the situation and boost tourism.
IACA, that represents 34 leisure airlines and accounts for more then 25% of all traffic at Cypriot airports, said that despite repeated warnings, Cyprus is facing a severe downturn in tourism and a loss of competitive advantage compared to other tourist destinations. This is also exacerbated by the global economic climate and the weakening Sterling/Euro exchange rate, which has particularly affected the large UK travel market.
“The steep increase of more than 70% in airport charges at Larnaca and Paphos and the unacceptable government concession fee of 33% on airport revenues are examples of how Cyprus has become an unattractive place for airlines,” said Luc Geens, Manager Operations, IACA. “Egypt and Turkey, that reacted quickly to the current downturn in the tourist sector, are continuing to grow as holiday destinations.”
“We urge the government and Hermes Airports Ltd to remove the detrimental increases in airport charges and the government concession fees, create more attractive incentive programmes for airlines, and improve tourist services and amenities in Cyprus.”
This follows the recent news from TUI, one of the largest travel operators of the UK, that Cyprus faces the prospect of a 25% reduction in arrivals from the UK, unless urgent action is taken to avert the situation.
Jez Clarke, General Manager Overseas Purchasing, TUI Northern Europe said at a gathering of Cypriot travel professionals in Limassol that the current situation was worse than 9/11.
The reasons cited for Cyprus’ loss in tourist market share were the general economic crisis and the state of the UK economy, as well as the need to improve services and amenities.
TUI presented feedback from customers’ questionnaires saying that in the area of accommodation, customer satisfaction has been steadily decreasing over the last four years, while satisfaction with competing destinations Egypt and Turkey has been increasing. Cypriot hotels have also been losing points on cleanliness. Customers also feel that Cyprus is not a ‘value for money destination’. Egypt scored ten points higher than Cyprus.
Another problem with Cyprus is that it has been failing to attract adequate numbers of visitors in winter. Compared to the same time last year, bookings for summer 2009 are down 28% for Larnaca airport and 20% for Paphos airport.
