By Marinos Pavlikas *:
The Cyprus Tourism Organization may announce increases in the tourist flow for the summer season so far, but hoteliers do not notice the expected increase in tourism. The restrained optimism that prevails this year translates more into a numb tourist season, where the Middle East is still counting its wounds from the turmoil that occurred in previous years, which undoubtedly favored the tourist flow to our country.
Nevertheless, these favorable times have, this year, been reversed due to the crumbling value of the Russian currency, the devalued Turkish pound leading to the attraction of tourism, the good weather in Central Europe, the hosting of the World Cup. Russia and the resurgence of competitive markets such as Egypt and Turkey.
On the other hand, it should be noted that, in cases of incompleteness, this is due to the expansion of hotel units and the creation of new beds, which are not fully available, which in itself explains that this year may be numb, on the other hand, however, hoteliers do not seem dissatisfied, given all the prevailing conditions.
Arrival numbers are fictitious
In an announcement last month, the Cyprus Tourism Organization underlined the increase recorded, according to the Travel Survey, in June 2018 compared to the same month in 2017. Specifically, in June this year the arrivals amounted to 511.073 compared with 472.450 in the same month last year. At the same time, there has been an increase in tourists from the United Kingdom by 9,9%, from Sweden by 20,2% and from Poland by 36,4%. In its announcement, the CTO also pointed out the increase during the six months January-June by 12,4% compared to last year. Specifically, in the first half of 2017, the airports received 1.463.206 foreign visitors compared to 1.645.149 during the first half of this year.
Of course, the effort made by the CTO in terms of promotion and promotion actions to maintain the competitiveness of our country in relation to either traditional or new destinations can not be ignored. On the other hand, tourism entrepreneurs believe that research on arrivals does not reflect reality and does not give a clear picture.
According to the President of PASYXE, Haris Loizidis, the numbers presented by the surveys of the Statistical Service show a picture by 30% increased compared to the actual nights. This discrepancy, according to the President of PASYXE, is due to the fact that, according to the estimates of the Association, almost a third of foreign tourists who arrive in our country either stay in unlicensed and unapproved accommodation or stay in friendly facilities. or relatives or go for accommodation in the occupied territories.
He even mentioned that there is a serious problem in the outflow of tourists to unlicensed accommodation, as their number has increased dramatically. On the other hand, he did not fail to mention the problem of the loss of tourists, who arrive at the airports of the free areas, and go by bus to stay in hotels of the occupied areas.
PASYXE requests a thorough study
For his part, the President of PASYXE Famagusta, Doros Takkas, warned that the possible opening of the Deryneia roadblock will cause incalculable damage to the tourist stream, as a large number of tourists will prefer to go to the occupied areas. In fact, both the very competitive prices of the products of the occupiers, as well as the lower costs that will be borne by the travel agencies that will choose the Deryneia roadblock instead of the existing Strovilia roadblock, seem to contribute to this fact.
The issue seems to be of particular concern to the hoteliers, since although there is no official evidence to prove the truth, but the problem has already been identified, with specific flights arriving in our country and going directly to the occupied areas.
Therefore, according to the President of PASYXE, Haris Loizidis, the Hoteliers Association is expected to request from the state a thorough technocratic study that demonstrates with official data the numbers of tourists who go for overnight stays in the occupied areas. In fact, the issue occupied the Association during last week's meeting.
* Source: TODAY's Sunday (29/7/2018)