S.O.S Cyprus

"the real economy of Cyprus, is and has always been -Tourism." 

Cyprus is undergoing a financial Tsunami. The Cypriot business model may well have been proved unsustainable but, it is one that is followed by several small E.U countries such as Andorra, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, etc. The big difference being these nations are not at the centre of the most important economic and energetic cross-roads of the Western, Eastern, and Arab world.

Homer in his time described Cyprus as being ‘the whore of the Mediterranean’,  today our ‘services’ ,with the discovery of sufficient natural gas reserves capable of supplying the every single EU country for the next few decades, are more than ever in demand from powerful outside interests. This has sparked off the current crisis emanating from Germany.

The eternal rivalry between German friendly countries and Russia has found in us a new battle ground. When asked what kind of weapons would be used in a Third World War, Einstein remarked he did not know then the weapons that would be used in a Third World War, but that he was pretty sure that the Fourth World War would be fought with stones.  The Third World War we are living now. It broke out in Lisbon in 2008 with the so called Lisbon Convention when the Franco – German alliance thought that the heart of Europe was beating in Berlin and Paris.  Some months later the French realized the Germans had a hidden ace and that German strategic commercial positions were much superior. In only three years Germany managed to become the “EU steam engine”.

For us, the simple people of Cyprus, Cypriot nationals, the UK Nationals, Russians, Germans, Swedish, Dutch along with other foreign passport holders who live and work in Cyprus  all that is but political chess playing with a good dose of poker thrown in. At the end of the day all this political gamesmanship does is to confuse, disrupt, and distress.

Today, our less than appealing Cypriot politicians, are calling for us to ‘Save Cyprus’, a bit of a cheek on their part considering they are utterly incapable of saving or solving anything, other than their own backsides with all having the requisite masters degree plus PHD in self survival techniques. Over the past week there has been a wall to wall Muppet show episode on Cypriot TV (without the clever humor or remotely interesting characters)  the supposed star of the show being our Ex – President Demetris Christofias performing a vanishing act, his communist party spending air time only criticizing the new government. Then we had our newly elected conservative president Nikos Anastasiades failing spectacularly to prove he had the essential guts ( for the last 2 years he was metaphorically exhibiting these as a vote catcher) when he did not get up and exit the Euro-group last Saturday.

With our avaricious Cypriot banking system teetering on the edge, we now know how easy it is to pass from the donkey to the Mercedes and back to the donkey in less than twenty four hours.

 The fear the Euro group implanted in our brains by “suggesting” cutting of bank deposits went way beyond Cypriot borders. Every sector of the European middle classes felt the icy hand of Mrs. Merkel and her followers hovering above their wallets. It is utterly immoral to expect European citizens to pay for the gross mismanagement of the banking sector. Of course, scaring people has always been an effective weapon, but, when scared, people often react in an illogical and spasmodic manner.  Panic is the worst enemy and that is exactly what the Euro-group succeeded in provoking.

Now, we need to figure out what path we should follow. It is clear that Cyprus is capable of creating a domino effect in the euro zone, making it the perfect excuse for Frau Merkel to step in and raid everyone’s bank accounts. We do need to have a breathing space, we need to lose the panic mode, and we need to start asking all the EU countries what kind of Europe we really do want.

When the Cypriot banks open most foreign deposits will go, flying off to Malta or Luxemburg, the Cypriot banking system will shrink, 6-8000 thousand people will be unemployed and some hundreds of Bank branches will become empty shells. However, banking is not the real economy of Cyprus, the real economy of Cyprus, is and has always been -Tourism.

If you are a middle class European citizen do not ask Cypriots to give you part of their savings but help them save your savings. Help us save your money by spending it here in Cyprus. Go on your computer and book a low cost flight to Larnaca or Pafos, find your accommodation and if possible book it directly skipping any middle men to enjoy a week long holiday (or more) in any beach or mountain resort in Cyprus. In doing so you will be pumping into the real economy the equivalent of high quality oxygen and in return you will experience value for your money both in the  hospitality and sheer beauty of the island.
Don’t ever underestimate us please, we are determined NOT to be Europe’s ‘experiment’ and tourists can set us free from being wired up lab rats.

To those planning to come to Cyprus in 2013 I personally invite to come down to the seafront where at the municipal baths you will find me every morning taking a morning dip in the company of a bunch of friends so please Contact me on twitter @petrosmavros –then I can look forward to meeting you and over a complimentary coffee say thank you for being such a welcome visitor to our lovely island.

Russia can protect Cyprus

A proper solution must involve all interested parties, writes Dimitry Afanasiev

This Article was written By Dimitry Afanasiev and published in the Financial Times 

At the weekend, Angela Merkel said those “responsible” for the Cyprus banking crisis would have to pay, not just European taxpayers. Russian depositors in Cyprus were to take a hit under an EU plan – rejected on Tuesday by the Cypriot parliament – because it was politically expedient for the German chancellor.

Why are Russian depositors being held responsible? Cypriot banks are in trouble not because Russians deposited funds. It is because the terms on which EU officials (including in Berlin) opted to restructure Greek debt to protect European investments harmed Cypriot banks, which held it in significant amounts. On the contrary, thanks to Russian investment, Cyprus has developed into a modern European country.

On what basis do German officials classify Russian depositors as money launderers? And what about the stripping of the accounts of the 60,000 British bank depositors, mostly retired, and average Cypriot citizens?

The answers are clear. The Germans are pushing a blatantly irresponsible “tax” on deposit holders in Cyprus because neither the average British or Cypriot pensioner nor Russian bank depositors have any meaningful voice with EU finance ministers. And neither does Cyprus, evidently – because, although it is an EU member, it is in a dire situation.

German officials’ implication that the actions are justified because Russian funds are “laundered” adds insult to injury. It is an absurd and irrelevant argument – many Russian depositors are small and medium-sized businesses that lawfully placed their money in Cyprus. In the eyes of Berlin, any Russian or Ukrainian with a bank account is suspect.

Cyprus is stuck between an old friend (Russia) and new EU partners (not so friendly now) willing to give Nicosia money if it forgets the old friend. The European Central Bank goes as far to say it is willing to sustain the stability of Cypriot banks and lend as much as needed to maintain liquidity after the confiscation. Common sense suggests the cost of such emergency loans will likely be much higher than the €6bn that the ECB is not willing to give now because tens of billions will flow out of Cyprus if this tax stands. Clearly, there is a better solution.

First, the EU has to stop this nonsense of expropriating deposits through confiscatory taxation. The EU cannot hold itself together if, at times of crisis, decisions are made from a national (German) rather than all-European point of view and small nations are allowed to be bullied.

Second, Russia and the UK have to stand up to Germany and fight back. International law provides a good basis for holding governments and individual officials liable for inducing expropriation.

Third, Russia should respond to Nicosia’s request for help, expressed most recently on Tuesday when the Cypriot finance minister flew to Moscow. Cyprus needs €16bn. Europe is willing to give €10bn. Russia should loan the other €6bn.

A proper solution for Cyprus must involve all interested parties. This should promote further development of the country so it can pay back its debts rather than stifle business and kill the banking system. The loan made to Cyprus should be secured by its mineral resources – including rights to recently discovered offshore gas reserves – land, property and banking stocks. These interests should then be securitised and privatised. Private interests will drive further economic development, making the creditors happy and restoring Cyprus’s fortunes.

The writer is chairman of the Russia-based law firm Egorov Puginsky Afanasiev and Partners

For the Love of Paphos - by NAN MACKENZIE

I would like to thank the Cyprus Mail for this fantastic experience to share my views and ideas. Of course without Nan Mackenzie this interview would have been boring. It is great to share thoughts with a journalist who gets to the depth of your brain. Again thanks Nan for standing me for so many hours.

 A dedicated group of volunteers is determined to make Paphos’ declaration as European Capital of Culture 2017 a success. NAN MACKENZIE meets one of their key members Few people have the talent to really engage with people, to spur them on and to both educate and entertain. Petros Mavros is such a man, and he comes across as having exhausting nervous energy that fairly snaps, crackles and pops in the air around him. He is a genuine polymath, a believer in the teachings of 14th century Italian humanist Leon Battista Albertione, architect, poet, linguist, author, lawyer and mathematician, who subscribes to the view that “a man can do all things if he will”.

One area of passion for Mavros is what he calls the most human of industries, which makes it such an important national resource, where people grow with knowledge and training, and are then able to offer a truly positive customer experience. He is describing the human face of the Cyprus tourism industry, and after watching him in action during one of his company training courses it is clear that here is someone who could easily take apart an old Skoda, surround himself with all the greasy bits, and then put it back together as an XR3i.

 Petros moved with his Spanish-born wife and family to work in the Spanish hotel business. Returning to his hometown of Paphos, he now runs his own company mixing training in the hospitality sector with work as a consultant and a web master. And, like the ‘shark’, he has to keep moving forwards, constantly trying out new systems, thriving on mental challenges, testing out the validity of what he calls his “light bulb moments”. 

When asked if he could pick any time in history to be born which period would he choose? “Now. I truly love this time, no question about it, it’s an exciting period in history with the tectonic plates of technology moving so fast we will be seeing mammoth changes in the way businesses will be run in the future and how our lives will be changed. That’s coming from one who was born at a time when if you wanted to make a phone call you had to be indoors. We now have the opportunity to change things for the better but to never ever forget that at the same time, life can only really be defined in the present tense”.

Talking about changing things for the better, Petros is a key member of the team of volunteers behind the successful bid that saw Paphos named as European Capital of Culture for 2017. The volunteers – who all work on an equal footing – were responsible for putting together the successful bid. They are still very much involved in what will be staged in the town during the celebrations and changes that will need to be made in order to host it. So how does Petros see his beloved Paphos rising to the challenge of 2017? “Hope that the powers that be will come to recognise both the enormity of the challenge and the positive long-term effects this title can have not only on Paphos and its people, but Cyprus as a whole will stand to benefit. “We have an enormous opportunity here to provide a legacy for our children and our children’s children, and it cannot ever be construed as a big, one-year party that fades away after 12 months so no-one can remember it come April 2018.

Another great thing that has happened is the emergence of our band of volunteers - these are men and women who live and work in Paphos and are genuinely passionate about their town and its long-term future with the title of European Capital of Culture. Without the unstinting contributions given by our volunteers we would not have won the title, they gave up their time and worked unpaid in order to ensure the title will indeed serve as a catalyst for the cultural development and the transformation of the city. It’s their enthusiasm and commitment which we have to build on now to have an excellent, well thought out outline programme. We will as a team be able to showcase Paphos and so lay down solid foundations to build on for the future.”

When Melina Mercouri in 1983 conceived and proposed the programme of the European Capital of Culture she and the French Cultural minister Jack Lang strongly advocated that direct political involvement should not be present within the core management of any cultural capital organisation and this was endorsed within the European Union, which each year designates a city to hold the title. But how is Paphos handling this limiting of political power? “The ‘bid book’ - the bible of action to be taken - also confirms this very important point that political dominance was not in the interest of the project. Experiences within other cultural capitals have shown that a board heavily weighted on the political side invariably ends up being hijacked by political interest at the expense of cultural interests, and it then becomes a battleground for conflicting political interest, priorities and egos. “If the politicians ruled the roost, so to speak, with 2017 then we would surely be placed in a situation whereby we have a group of blind men trying to describe an elephant. One will hold the trunk and say it’s a snake; another will grip a leg and say it’s a tree; another will stroke the ear and say it’s a banana plant. They will all say different things because they cannot ever see the whole thing.”

Obviously a man capable of inspiring others, I have to assume that Petros is a born leader. Once 2017 has passed, would this lead to the natural development of seeing him run for a political post? “Every morning I join a group of friends and regardless of the weather, we go for an early morning swim in the sea. I often lie on my back and float for a time, trying to clear my mind of any stress. Sometimes I close my eyes and dream that one day gravity will cease to exist and I will just float upwards adrift over Paphos and be slowly carried by gusts of wind out to sea. When I look down from the clouds I always see the politicians who despite the loss of gravity are the ones who still cannot gain any lift”. That’s a no then.

 He is more interested in working with those in the hotel industry, giving value to people working at all levels – which is what he does when not concerning himself with the Paphos of 2017. “If our tourism business is a pyramid then the base has to be rooted in the experience enjoyed by the customer, chambermaids are, after all, the people who change your sheets and clean up after you. Of course they first walk into the training room and wonder why the hell they are there, being faced by a big fat hairy man spouting on about tourism marketing when all they can think about is how many rooms they still have to clean. But after a time they begin to realise how important they really are to the overall running of the hotel. Their work is probably the first indication a customer gets on how caring and professional an establishment really is. “My belief is that tourism is a natural resource that needs to be managed as such, with people growing with knowledge, and that knowledge being transmitted into training which not only assures working skills but most importantly human skills. It’s not important if a waiter serves wine from the right or left, what matters is the ability to transmit enthusiasm and knowledge when serving the wine, otherwise all wines will taste the same to the customer. With this philosophy front and centre within the tourism industry we can hopefully recover some of our lost ground and grow with a bit more confidence and knowledge and so assure jobs and income for people in the long term.” And driving our tourism industry forward requires the big bosses appreciating the human force and harnessing it for the power of good. “It’s important for them to understand that people have personal power or they have positional power. Positional power means I have power over you because I am the chief executive and you should fear me because of who I am. And then there’s personal power, which is what’s inside all of us, and believe me the dishwasher in a restaurant or hotel can have more personal power than someone who is a manager because they have that innate quality. In other words, being a manager doesn’t equal being a leader, what does, is in the way you treat people and how you lead, and that is part of what I subscribe to”.

 Petros comes across as a thoroughly nice guy and this too is something he underlines in his training. “Being nice is important in any job, it’s not a soft unfashionable word it’s an important one, as being ‘nice’ is as important as having passion for your job. None of us want to work for people who aren’t nice, that’s not being selfish that’s just an absolute essential in the service and hospitality business. Life is just too short to be dealing with people who aren’t ‘nice’. Give me someone who is nice and who is passionate and I can teach them everything else”. Now in his 40th year, Petros graduated in hotel management from the renowned Swiss Hotel Association Hotel Management School Les Roches, before going on to work in Europe. He is a fine writer; and as a cook lays claim to making the best paella this side of Barcelona; he relishes good wine; is fluent in English, Spanish, German and French, also speaking Catalan as well as native Greek. Married to a Spanish teacher he is father to teenage twins (boy and girl) and the family live in a multilingual multicultural home in Paphos but, he does however admit to being a somewhat difficult man to be married to. “I am a bit self absorbed, impulsive and I do like to have my own way and my work sometimes is put above my family, but I am fortunate in that my wife really does understand me and she supports me but, what I really do badly at is saying no to things”.

A new era in Managing Tourism - Cyprus should set new goals

We are heading towards the end of another summer season. Soon we will hear the voice of smug satisfaction from the mouths of those in charge of tourism in Cyprus. They will tell us: - “We have had a 3, 34% increase in arrivals, with 7.3% increase in income from last year, this means we are doing well”.

‘My goodness’, you say to yourselves-‘we are doing well, even better than expected’. –But - the $64.000 question has to be: - What exactly did our tourist experts do in order to present us with these apparently improved statistics. .

This year the circumstances have been highly favourable in that we had the Russian tourists who filled some gaps, the UK and German markets had left behind.  And more, much more than this, is in our “favour” with the Middle East under siege, our small tranquil island then became a peaceful summer oasis for travelers.

It’s becoming increasingly clear that we should now be managing tourism as a natural resource, the same way Denmark for example manages their oil resources.  In order to do this the major tourism agency of Cyprus, and I mean, the Cyprus Tourism Organisation (C.T.O.) will now have to swiftly evolve to become a creditable engine of sustainability and not, as it currently operates as an engine of sterile promotion.
The C.T.O. have to radically change its modus operandi away from their purely policing policy, and move into the serious role of being an effective professional consultant, offering much needed expertise for business owners. Key to this 21stCentury thinking has to be the radical and much needed break away from the political handcuffing it currently struggles under, and the entire organisation needs to run by true travel professionals.

Yes, there were the good old days, when three of four agreements with the so called large tour operators were sufficient to satisfy the short term need of filling those empty rooms. But, times have changed, marketing to the masses is dead, we will swiftly forget the term e-tourism, soon we will only talk about m-tourism (mobile tourism).  We predict the next 5 years will see more smartphone and tablet users than the combined population of France and the UK. That also means our travel products will have to become mobile and be much more engaging, but, to achieve this aim we do need to become a truly sustainable travel entity.

Becoming a world class sustainable travel destination will certainly not take us out of the recession, but it will lead us to a more equally shared travel pie the slice of which will give jobs to the young, create investment opportunities for the foreign investor, and assure state and private funding for generations to come.

Today, Cyprus is straddling the two concepts of sustainability and feasibility, the point being a feasible business is not necessary a sustainable one, but a sustainable business is definitely a feasible one.
‘And now that the end is near’-, we should learn from the example set by the third world Colombian Amazon village of Nazareth. This community do not allow tour operators and travel agents to bring tourists into the Amazon jungle, it’s the indigenous people who take care of all accommodation, guidance, information, and general hospitality, the end result is travelers appreciate much more this human user friendly approach compared to the one we have long adopted which is to “cater to meet needs “.

The Colombian Amazon, and the rainforests are no more, or less, important than the Akamas, and British tourists who visit Sumatra and Nazareth are banned from careering around in Quad bikes in their protected environments. Why then are tourists allowed to do it here?

We seem to be many miles away as far as comprehending how important tourism is as a long term natural resource, one that can and should feed us all- if handled properly, one that will allow businesses to flourish, and importantly, one that we can pass on not with regret ‘that we didn’t see it through without exemption’-but with pride, for the next generation to keep on nurturing.

Cuprus Tourism got lucky according to ex Finance Minister

The ex minister of Finance of Cyprus, Mr. Michael Sarris has mentioned that our economy was un-sustainable for many years. "Even in Tourism that it is our main production,we got lucky since we had the Russian market spending without looking much".

During his short speech at the Neapolis University of Pafos Mr. Sarris clarified that Cyprus has been living on debt than on production. This according to Mr. Sarris is very dangerous and it can only lead to crisis and this is were it led us.

This blog has been talking about sustainability and balance in Tourism in order to make the destination competitive. Tourism competitiveness is not only the price of the travel package but also the the sustainability and feasibility of the Travel Sector in a broader sense.

Privatization or Cyprus Airways is now a desire that cannot be fulfilled, this could be the beginning of a new era in the travel sector in Cyprus, but unfortunately Cyprus airways and the related to it services and companies are closing down or becoming another black hole for the Cypriot tax payer.

Cyprus Tourism - Head in Sand Time?

On January 10th Ryan air announced it would offer 80 flights a week to 14 new destinations, investing in Cyprus nearly 110million euros to bring 600.000 passengers a year and provide jobs for 600 people.
The airline was the first to take advantage of the governments new incentives to boost tourism which included a substantial drop in landing fees.

Described by the head of the CTO as ‘the start of huge potential for Cyprus’-and as ‘a watershed for Cyprus’ -by Ryan Air deputy chief Michael Crawley.

Every thing seemed to be moving in the right direction for both parties, with an agreement which was mutually beneficial, assuring in the main a sustainable and long term relationship between the Cyprus Tourism Organisation and Ryan Air.

Eight months down the line cracks are beginning to show with threats from Ryan air to ‘pull the plug’ on Cyprus and so dissolve their partnership.

The original agreement between the Cyprus Tourism Organisation (CTO) and the airline, as explained by Mr Orountiotis President of the CTO is the same agreement they have struck with other airlines and tour operators.

Now, Ryan Air are threatening to close Larnaca flights due to high fuel costs and are claiming a 100% increase on the promotion fees the CTO is offering.

A somewhat predictable scenario given the standard operating policy of Ryan air and their prime objection of ‘route profitability’.  Ryan Air has played this card many times before and they will continue to do so, for that is their avowed strategy.

Sadly, the history of Tourism in Cyprus reads a bit like Groundhog Day with the powers that be always repeating the same mistakes, mainly in their inability to practice the art of flexibility, to be able to look ahead with regard to the countries need to diversify its source markets, all without creating a structure of total dependency on either tour operators or airlines.

A roll back in time shows us what happened - the demise of Cypriana holidays in the 1990’s followed by the inevitable bankruptcy of Libra holidays, not forgetting our national carrier- Cyprus Airlines -which now looks perilously close to flying off into the sunset never to return.

The Republic of Cyprus has long subsidised our ailing national carrier, as well as promoting an over protectionist routing policy. Cyprus has to now waken up to the fact that routes need to be substituted by an open skies policy which can then turn the country into a profitable destination for every foreign airline.
We would then experience not only healthy competition but it would also allow increased interest to develop new source markets.

The grim facts have to be faced as Cyprus Airways is now one wing tip short of bankruptcy, and an open skies policy will most certainly send it into a fatal nose dive.

This of course would then leave politicians of all political parties brutally exposed, and that’s why the powers that be will not be available for an honest and open debate on this very important if not vital change to our current tourism policy.

London 2012 Olympic Games Spirit

Tonight many millions of people will watch the Opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games. Tonight, once again the Olympic spirit will enter the houses of people from Afghanistan, Armenia, Australia, Ecuador, Spain, Italy, UK, the USA, Mexico, Burundi or Germany.

From this blog I would like to ask all of you to listen carefully the Hymn of the Olympic Games. Probably the only music composition in the world that unites under one tune so many nationalities for a common cause. Spyridon Samaras the composer and Kostis Palamas lyrics two universal Greeks wrote the Olympic Hymn thinking that this music will set one solid foundation for international peace and cooperation.

This blog is not political, this blog is critical with many things that happen in Greece and Cyprus. But today Tourism is All of Us declares Olympic Truce and invites all of us to do the same.

Last but not least. I invite all who cannot be in an Olympic Stadium to watch the games to come to the motherland of the Olympic Games and the Olympic Spirit, come to Greece, and watch the Games relaxing on an OlympicBeach. Enjoy !!

Death on ‘A corner of earth touched by heaven’ - Mother dies on a five star holiday to Cyprus

An online site promoting Northern Cyprus describes the area as being ‘A corner of earth touched by heaven’. In describing the locals the effusive copy tells us that the ‘Cypriot people are always cheerful, calm and hospitable’.  Sounds inviting doesn’t it? ....Of course it is, especially for those folk currently entombed in rain soaked Britain who haven’t seen the sun for months and who ache to go on holiday.

Fine.. I have no problem with that except that one has always got to counter the ‘cute copy’ used by these travel people and remind ourselves occasionally that this ‘corner of earth’ was also touched by bloodshed after the illegal invasion by the Turkish army in 1974, and one has to seriously doubt if there is to be found a genuinely ‘cheerful, calm, and hospitable Cypriot currently living in the occupied North, after they had their homes and businesses taken from them by the occupying forces.

But leaving that aside for the moment, one must stop and wonder at what tourists expect and receive from a holiday in the north, yes... they have fine hotels the majority having been taken from their rightful owners and turned over to Turkish migrants to run. No doubt the Turkish government told these migrants that they were going to go and live in a ‘corner of the earth touched by heaven’ and so they were sent over to the Occupied North to populate and run the north as part of the Turkish state.

This is where we now come to several difficulties as these probably well meaning family folk and workers did indeed work hard to make a livelihood they renovated the hotels and so set themselves up as hoteliers.

The key here is no one recognises within the EU the illegal state of “Northern Cyprus”  so tourists finding themselves attracted to cheaper prices than in southern Cyprus (the legally owned part of the island) can and do find themselves in trouble. The tragic case last year of the Englishwoman who stayed with her partner at a five star hotel only to die there after drinking from a water bottle containing cleaning fluid, left there by accident on a bedside table by the maid after she had cleaned the couples room.

A terrible thing to happen in this corner of earth and her partner will now have no end of trouble if he tries to pursue for compensation against the management of the hotel.

The legitimate and mercifully professional part of this island has strict hotel training systems in place which would disallow the potential for this sort of accident occurring. The legitimate Cyprus may well be a bit more expensive than the illegally occupied North but here you do have rights and are fully covered by EU laws.

Much has been said and done about the ‘Cyprus Problem’ what we should be doing is ensuring our tourists are safe no matter where they holiday on this island, we should continue to find ways to offer inclusivity towards the Turkish Cypriots,  something we are doing from this side of the island for many years now by organising day trips for visitors to the occupied north under the legal shield the UN via the Cyprus Green Line Agreement. What we don’t want is for the northern corner ‘touched by heaven’ to become a danger death zone for foreign tourists, here-we cannot afford to have headlines in the Daily Mail newspaper that scream ‘Mother dies on a five star holiday to Cyprus’.

For many tourists Cyprus is Cyprus -whether it’s Northern or Southern, most don’t actually care about what happened 38 years ago that caused this separation of the country, they see the prices and go.yes it’s hot there and they have great beaches... book it!

Unless we can all work together under EU legality in tourism to better our products and make safe our visitors then we will continue to receive fallout from the somewhat lack lustre capabilities currently being promoted within that ‘corner of earth touched by heaven’.

A letter form a friend - "Your welcome friends to Cyprus"

A good friend of mine in London after seeing the video “Your welcome friends to Cyprus” called to ask me if the whole thing was a big joke. or if it  was ‘frighteningly serious’. Until then, I had been unaware of the content having only seen some comments online. After watching the video I called and left a message on her voice mail saying- no, the video was indeed produced in Cyprus by professionals and it was not a joke.

Some hours later I received the following email from her which I now share with you.

“ Dear Petros,

Thank you for clarifying that the video was not some hoax.

Sadly the image of Cyprus as a forward thinking cosmopolitan country, one that has produced highly creative, talented, men and women, took what can only be described as a massive body blow when, the so called ‘welcome’ video was unleashed onto the unsuspecting public.

The recipients of this ‘welcome’ will be those countries looking to Cyprus as they head the European Council, sadly the  video is so amazingly bad in every respect that it looks as if Cyprus is effectively raising a sole digit ( a middle finger) to the EU.

The music is ghastly, the singer is off key and the words are so dreadful they take ‘corny’ to an entirely new level.

We have a man in a white outfit who is first seen crouched behind a rock as if caught short after a few beers, he then rises up to face the camera - to then waggle in front of us  two gold painted olive branches, also a less than fine pair of tuned tonsils.

As he does this simultaneous ‘waggling’ he threatens via the special ‘welcome’ song that  visitors ‘will  never be alone in Cyprus’ and ‘all will find themselves ‘walking with the lady Aphrodite’

By the end of this visual and audible torture -ones head is buried in a blanket of embarrassment as the Corn level has exceeded even this not so jolly, not so green, and defiantly no giant in any regard.
Its rumoured that 60.000 euros went into the making of this aberration- and 12 key sponsors were obviously keen to see their names listed at the end of the video-

Next time sponsors- best employ  a blind shepherd, and a donkey, fit the video camera to the back end of the donkey and have the shepherd sit astride the beast to wander the roads of Cyprus whilst reciting the Pafos phone book with  Abba singing along in the background –now thats what I call a Welcome video!”

APOEL vs Real Madrid, Scoring League Points.

The European Champions league quarter final between Apoel v Real Madrid offered a classic long odds, underdog story, given the huge disparities between the two clubs, the Nicosia based Apoel barely belonged on the same field as the mighty Madrid team.

They had to face Real Madrid one of the most consistent and richest winning teams of all time, with celebrity coach Jose Mourinho, and a line up that includes three of the top eleven players in the Castrol rankings, a team that had reached the knockout round after posting the best group stage record in history. There was no question in the minds of the football pundits that: - Apoel a team listed 100 in the UEFA’S rankings of European clubs, who had never won a Champions league group game and a club that worked with a lowly budget of under 10 million Euros -a budget less than the annual take home pay of Cristiano Ronaldo: - Apoel was without doubt –going down.

They did, losing to the Spanish team by 3 goals –Apoel didn’t score a goal on the field but they metaphorically scored-hitting their opponents  net multiple times in the eyes and minds of both supporters and even the pundits. This ‘small’ country team stood their ground against the might of Madrid for 70 action packed minutes without conceding a goal.

The game acted as a classic metaphor for the tourist industry, where small countries do have the right or, should I say the absolute prerogative, to be able to play in the tourism equivalent of the Champions league. A red card shouldn’t be waved in the faces of small countries whose tiny budgets mock the big leaguers, small countries can and do produce imaginative –creative proposals and they will invariably offer client’s higher levels of flexibility to equal even exceed that of a mass tourist destination.

Small countries will never be top of the tourist league but they will play and win points for the sheer unadulterated conviction at being able to get out there and show, like Apoel that although overpowered, outclassed, and  out of pocket, they always display verve, nerve, and pride in what they do, regardless of the outcome, small may not always rise to the top but they will always be ready to play, and unlike some of the big hitters in the tourist business, they wont be prone to hitting any own goals.

Ryan Air, a Mixed Blessing?

The recent agreement between Hermes airports and Ryan Air for the opening of their 50th operational base in Europe has to be looked at as both a blessing and a curse. We can count the blessings as follows.-
1. Ryan air will be committed to invest a substantial amount of money in order for the operational base to become viable.

2. Ryan Air will set tourist targets and when met this means a significant increase in tourist traffic to Cyprus. One can look at the success of Ryan Airs partnership with Spanish airports such as Girona and Reus.

3. Ryan Air is not into just one specific market such as the bucket shop package traveller, they are for the first time targeting the free independent traveller (FIT).

Like all blessings we should receive them gratefully, but at the same time we have to managing them correctly. Ryan Air, flying in plane loads of multiple blessings to Pafos means we have to look seriously at what we, as one half of the partnership can offer in return. According to the press officer of Pafos Hoteliers Association Mr. Evripides Loizides he summed up the current dilemma that is dancing around the minds of clear minded Pafos based businesses. ‘Ryan Air has arrived, but its now time we started to get really serious as a tourist destination’.

To date the Pafos tourist scene is viewed with pessimism by those in the business and there is a genuine fear that sectors within the market are not going to be entirely responsive to the demands made by this new wave of travellers.

A complete change of attitude has to start from the top down with our elected officials now having to waken up to the fact that with the arrival of independent tourists we have to quite simply ‘clean up our act’ and instead of the usual indifference and apathy, our municipal and community leaders have to get into the mind set of sustainability rather than ‘fast attainability.

We must also address the expected increase in traffic going to and from the airport, with there being a more noticeable demand for car rentals, taxi hire, mini buses etc, modes of transport which will carry more tourists but in much smaller groups. Pessimism is rife as to the anticipated increase in accident rates as our less than civil taxi drivers continue to follow the ‘old ways’ of unbridled rudeness mixed with a good dose of road rage. Deep pessimism also abounds when it comes to those restaurants who will no doubt continue their blinkered short term thinking by offering  their usual serving of ‘customer scare’ rather than the anticipated ‘customer care’.

What’s actually needed is for us to all to be re educated into what exactly the art of tourism really is, how we must now be ready to play a new and effective role, rather than re-enact our constipated, lack lustre, short term mind set formed over the past disastrous decade.

The opportunity offered to us by claiming Pafos as a European Capital of Culture in 2017 coupled with the Ryan Air arrival are ‘good sparks’ which should be igniting the flame of a ‘healthy tourism fire’. The pessimist in me however worries that we may have the making of such a fire but sadly no –one has brought alone the matches.

The Ryan Air agreement could be compared to morphine in that this is an opiate which doubles as both a form of pain relief and as an addictive drug which, if taken to excess results in a slow death. Our sole dependency on Ryan Air can also be viewed as dangerous if we become too addicted, as we have experienced to our cost when we depend so much on tour operators.

Surely the avowed aim to the tourist sector by the state and Cyprus Airports has to be the practice of  healthy independence with no more reliance on addictive practises so we can at long last transform Pafos into an attractive sustainable tourist destination which thrives year in year out without recourse to entering into any unholy, inappropriate, or short term relationships.

A Different Seasonal Greeting

I will not be sending you a festive greeting in the form of card or gift. This is not because I am in any way against the spirit of Christmas, I just prefer to use the money in a more effective manner and so bring tangible ‘cheer’ to those whose lives are blighted by abject poverty and fear. My donation as always will go to KIVA an NGO that offers people the chance to become micro-lenders for as little as 25euros/pounds/ etc to men and women living in developing countries.

Here is how it works. A lender goes to the Kiva website which displays photos of pre screened people and tells you what they need the money for and how much they require. The lenders make a choice and pay by credit card. Kiva then transfers the money to a local partner, which then makes the loan to the business. During the period of the loan, the partner provides updates to the lender on the businesses progress and collects repayment, which the lender can withdraw from Kiva or re-loan.

An example of how successful Kiva has been is demonstrated by the experience of Nicholas Kristof the New York Times columnist. He loaned $25 to a TV repair shop owner and bakery in Afghanistan. The baker had received $425 from a total of seven American lenders, enough to open a second bakery. The TV repairman had also opened a second shop. Between them they had created six new jobs and, in the process, increased the chances that Afghanistan can succeed in building a moderate Muslim democracy in the face of the Taliban’s efforts to undo it. Kirstof had his investment returned and he then reinvested in a different project.

I have also invested over the past five years via Kiva in small family businesses related to tourism where the amount of money has been infinitesimal and yet to them it is tremendous and the 50 -100 euro investment has gone on to make a huge difference to a families fortunes, and yes, in all those years I have never failed to get my original investment returned to me.

Savings in very poor countries are impossible to mount, and the flow of International money into these countries is fast drying up. The disbursement of small amounts to the worlds specific poor for specific purpose is one answer, loans made by concerned people in the west in what some call ‘many to many’ lending. In the past four years Kiva is lending around $50 million annually and defaults are as good as unknown.

This Christmas I hope you will join me and the many other thousands of people who have helped ‘make a difference’ in a families life -not just for Christmas – for life.

My very best wishes to you and all your loved ones and may you have a very happy Christmas. Petros Mavros.

Go Greek for a week

The UK Television Channel 4 created what they thought was an objective look at the Greek economic crisis by trying to replicate the lives of Greek workers using English men and women who pretended to ‘Go Greek for a Week’. The result was a less than inspiring glimpse behind the somewhat smug and obviously negative mind set of the producers of this so called reality programme.

In what can only be described as an unusual outpouring of objectivity I now feel obliged to direct the British consumers to go Greek for a week, but this time to go -do it .......in Greece.

British families visiting Greece this summer will certainly have the opportunity to contribute to the Greek recovery since, their government is not doing it through the euro zone, and I now offer this open invitation for all British tourists to book now so they can “conquer” some of the most beautiful Greek beaches, Greek islands and Greek villages.

This experience will most certainly blot from ones memory all the misery that currently exists in their homeland by taking the first available flight to Athens, Crete or Rhodes and there meet with authentic ‘real’ Greek culture.

Going Greek for a week will mean different things to different people some will travel to Athens, the city that never sleeps, others may choose a remote village perched high above the Aegean sea, many will opt to journey from the Peloponnese to Macedonia, meeting en route real Greeks who have never heard of Channel 4 television and couldn’t care less about this type of stereotypical presenting of different cultures- Why? Because ‘Real Greeks’ are too busy living their lives as best they can under difficult financial circumstances, an experience I hasten to add that is now being swiftly mirrored by the average ‘real Brit’ in their homeland. .

The Greek economic situation is certainly tragic, and those suffering the most are the men and women losing their livelihoods their homes, and their pride. Greece however is a country with a great capacity for recovery something that has been solidly proven over the past 150 years.

The German occupation during the 2nd World War emptied the Greek banks and occupiers stole the entire country’s gold reserves, this was just the beginning of the end for the Greek economy. After the Civil War Greek villages and towns were abandoned by the youth either to go to America or Australia as economic immigrants or they travelled to Athens to find jobs.
This situation left behind untouched unique villages that today still retain and conserve a truly special beauty and character with enormous potential for tourism.

So now is the time for the British Tourist to ‘really Go Greek for a Week ( or perhaps a fortnight) and experience for themselves a country that may be ‘down’ but certainly ‘not out’ as the beauty, romance, and friendliness will always be there in abundance and waiting for you will only be ‘Real Greeks’ ready to welcome you.

Petros Mavros

One of the fathers of Greek Tourism dies at the age of 90

No,  we are not talking about a travel agent or a hotelier in Greece. We are talking about the Greek of Cypriot origin film director Micheal Kakogiannis.

Kakogiannis’ 8th film “Zorba the Greek” created not only a “cultural phenomenon that transcended filmmaking” (according to the New York Times), but it was the major image builder for the Greek character and culture in the fifties.

Zorba the Greek was probably the first “tourist marketing film” for Greece and the one that lasted for ever. Greece had to wait until Mama Mia musical in 2008 to live again the impact of film making in tourism.

This makes me wonder if there is any better way to promote a destination. Barcelona could not have a better exposure and better marketer than Woody Allen. The “Vicky Christina Barcelona” film gives makes you wanting to take the plane after the lights of the cinema go on. New Zealand has built a whole tourist product and destination after the “Lord of the rings” and proved to be sustainable, profitable and have a growing trend.

Instead of printing huge advertisements in football pitches destinations and tourism organizations could fund culture and through culture they will defiantly get more exposure. Is not the same seeing a banner while Messi marks a goal and watching the whole plot of a film of Woody Allen or Quentin Tarandino taking place in the narrow roads of Lofou or Pafos center. But this is maybe at this time would sound like  “Pulp Fiction” to some ears.

Tourism in Cyprus is a beach pleasure

Cyprus is the safest place to swim in Europe. According to the European Commission, the Cypriot seawater is has the best water quality among the 27 member states. The report edited by the European Environment Agency evaluates Cyprus with 100%.

Despite that the water quality in Europe has fallen a bit from 2009 to 2010, Cyprus scores first.

So if you are a sea lover you have just found your sea paradise. Cyprus beach holidays may sound boring or “normal holidays” but if you search a bit you will be able to discover hidden corners that tourists did not reach yet. In the area of Pafos you could take a bath almost alone in Akamas area, or Pyrgos Tylirias, or even a closer costs like the ones near the birth place of Aphrodite.

You can even join us for a coffee at the Paphos municipal baths where we swim 365 days a year and at this time of the year we take our bath at 6 am. In order to get a great start up of the day.

The future of Cyprus Tourism without Cyprus Airways

Cyprus Airways possible bankruptcy is probably the biggest scandal in the recent history of Cyprus and defiantly the biggest in the history of Cyprus tourism as an industry.
The airline has been for years now the easy vote tank for all political parties in Cyprus. The airline was run by incompetent political boards of directors for many years whose only worry was how to jump from the darkness of a board of directors to the enlighten stage of the Parliament or of a Ministry.

The airline suffered different stages of transformation, all of them invisible to the general public since their corporate image is the same since the seventies. Despite the intends of making the airline a profitable company nothing went right. The entry of the airline in the stock market was a fiasco. Private investors, mostly workers from the tourism sector lost lots of money, during the crack of the stock market in Cyprus in 2001. The airline stocks from 10 Cyprus pounds (17 euros) to 5 cents of the euro today. The state did nothing to prevent it and until today people who invested in the airline have very bitter memories and lost fortunes.
The people who work in the travel sector of Cyprus wanted to invest their savings in a company with future and growth perspectives. At that time Cyprus Airways was the sole airline of the Country with lots of great slots and many promising routes in an almost monopolistic regime.
The scandal of Hellas Jet, the sister airline of Cyprus airways which never had a plane and never had a flight that was covered quickly from the government at that time, was only the beginning of the end. Purchasing 2 long hall A340 was probably the other whole in the finances of the company. The bad management was always covered by the different governments of whatever political colour. Now the situation is dramatic. The workers of the airline have made steps to cut down costs by accepting lowering their salaries and taking more responsibilities but the measures come too late am afraid.

Closing down the airline would mean the biggest crash of Cyprus Tourism. The Cyprus Tourism Organisation technocrats and Board of Directors are under lots of pressure since they have no airline to rely a decent strategic plan on. The credibility of the destination will suffer and the country will lose competitiveness. And this happens at a time when the Turkish Cypriots are moving with alliances to boost tourism in the occupied part of the island.

Cypriot economy relies on tourism and for the last 3 years numbers are not the best. The big tour operators find Cyprus too expensive in comparison with destinations like Crete, Turkey of even Dubai. The possible bankruptcy of Cyprus Airways by the end of 2011 (my prediction is November 2011), will give the final shot on the head to the already troubled economy.

Now, what should we do today? In my modest opinion the only way out the Cypriot Travel business man has is to take the airline sector in his hands. Cyprus has a great potential in tourism especially attracting visitors from the eastern part Europe. This potential can only be developed when the Travel Sector of Cyprus makes a move to find a strategic investor and in collaboration with him get the airline sector back on the air.

Hoteliers, Travel agents and local authorities have an important role to play, the matter is now who is going to lead such a movement. The key in my opinion is creating a new airline that will undertake all the slots of Cyprus Airways in the Cypriot and foreign airports, use the trained staff of the airline but be legally based in an EU country that will assure the flights over Turkey. The business model needs to be adapted to a low-cost airline that gives access to Tour Operators as well and open to the public serious and collaborative web strategy.

The path is long but is an one way road to pull Cyprus out of the Tourism crisis and probably is a unique opportunity to redesign Cyprus Tourism from scratch. Having the experience of the past and understanding the errors we made the recovery is possible only under a sensible and open leadership.

Dinning out in Pafos, Genesis Steak House is the place

If you are looking for a good steak in Pafos you need to contact Genesis Steak House. Jack Koufetas (Iakovos) has been for the last 30 years serving the best steaks you ever tried. Tradition and homemade food in combination with the “old” hospitality habits will make dinner unforgettable.

I strongly recommend a rare pepper steak served with the fresh organic veggies picked from Jack’s garden, accompanied by a red wine from the low mountains of Pafos (why not a Shiraz of Tsangarides Winery) and as desert you need to try Alice’s Pourekia (Goat fresh cheese fritters with honey).
The only way to taste it, is visiting the place.

Contact Jack and book a Table.

Minister of Finance of Cyprus foresees closing of Cyprus airways. Hahaha he is a prophet...!!

Οnce upon a time there was a small country in the Mediterranean called republic of Cyprus. This country thought that it was the superpower and therefore created two huge airlines to fly its corrupteted politicians and their followers for holidays, business and pleasure. Well then the dream went down the drain; suddenly the global financial crisis uncovered the corruption. Left, right, centre and whatever other politicians jump out of the airplanes to blame each other. Well Cypriots are not stupid, we all know that the boards of directors of Cyprus Airways were gaining votes and favour by putting people to work in the airline. We all know that they were involved in commissions even for purchasing peanuts, we all know that the airlines (Eurocypria and Cyprus Airways) were another stage for some politicians to get the lights on them.

Yesterday the new board of directors presented the salvation plan to the parliament with the presence of the Minister of Finance who said that the 20 million needed to be paid immediately do not really guarantee the feasibility of the airline. We have someone to blame, Turkey is the one to blame, Turkey breaking all the rules and all the norms of the EU does not let Cypriot planes fly over its airspace and obliges the pilots to fly around it and spend more time and fuel to reach the destinations (especially the ones in the ex Soviet Union). My question is simple. Did we know that ? We did, it is happening since 1974. Now, instead of having a strict unmovable business plan that included this risk we had an airline that knew very well how to spend. Trips and traps were organised, fam trips and trips for fun were made. Salaries that were paid to people who had less productivity than a carrot, salaries paid  to directors who were managing by not walking around. Now we are called as citizens to pay from our pockets all these corruption. Well I will not, they can come and arrest me.

Next May 2011 we will be called to vote for the parliament, well again I will not go and I hope that more will follow.

Experience Grand Resort Limassol

We are in Limassol having a great training seminar with the middle management team of one of the most important 5 star hotels of the town and of Cyprus.

The Grand Resort Limassol, formerly known as Hawaii Grand Resort is at this moment closed for minor refurbishment. The ownership and the management of the hotel decided to sign up the staff of the hotel to the Training program supplied by the Higher Hotel Institute of Cyprus, a training program sponsored by the EU Cohesion Fund and the republic of Cyprus.

Today, we are dealing with Marketing and Online Marketing trends.

I would like to thank Marios (HR Manager), Kiki (Executive Housekeeper), Pavlos (Frond Office Manager), Aristos ( Reservations Manager) and Antonis (Purchasing Manager).

The experience for me as trainer is simply fantastic, thank you all for your active participation.
(Thank you http://www.flickr.com/photos/renaissancechambara/ for the picture)

Happy 2011 for all of us, especially for those who with very little can achieve a lot !!

2010 has been a hard year for many people and businesses. Many of the people that would normally would get this message are without a job. Many work under very tough financial conditions, others are struggling to keep their business above the “sea level”. 

Avantless this year will not send any paper post cards and will give no giveaways and instead we have created a team in KIVA, a team where we suggest you join. KIVA is an online platform for Micro – Credits. We do not ask you to donate anything, we ask you to lend 25 Dollars to small entrepreneurs in countries that are under development. 25 dollars for a businesswoman in Guatemala or in Palestine have the value of 10,000 Dollars in a develpped country. 

We have been working with KIVA for 3 years now and all the money we have lent out has been paid back 100%.

In Avantless we believe that:
• People are by nature generous, and will help others if given the opportunity to do so in a transparent, accountable way. 
• The poor are highly motivated and can be very successful when given an opportunity and everybody deserves an opportunity. 
• By connecting people we can create relationships beyond financial transactions, and build a global community expressing support and encouragement of one another. 
• The online world facilitates those connections and creates REAL links with people despite their race, color, financial situation or other barrier the offline world puts. 

Kiva promotes: 
• Dignity: Kiva encourages partnership relationships as opposed to benefactor relationships. Partnership relationships are characterized by mutual dignity and respect and Avantless supports actively KIVA’s work by suggesting you to support this initiative. 
• Accountability: Loans encourage more accountability than donations where repayment is not expected. It is a give and take relationship therefore both sides get a greater satisfaction. 
• Transparency: The Kiva website is an open platform where communication can flow freely around the world. In Avantless we give huge importance in transparency and we urge you to join us. 

Join us on Avantless Team in KIVA and lets help those who need so little to make so much. 

Happy Holidays to all. 

Regards 

Petros Mavros
Avantless