Paschalides: Efforts to promote Cyprus tourism will continue

The government and the Cyprus Tourism Organisation will continue in 2010 their targeted and intensified efforts to promote Cyprus as an attractive tourist destination, Commerce, Industry and Tourism Minister Antonis Paschalides said here on Thursday.

Addressing the 32nd Annual Conference of the Cyprus Hotel Association (PASIXE), Paschalides said that government measures on one hand and CTO activities on the other, such as increased cooperation with important tour operators and opening up new air routes to tourists, will “become our main weapons in the fight to address challenges in the tourist industry.”

The tourist product can be modified to attract more people, specific forms of tourism will be promoted to meet the challenges ahead and new infrastructure projects have been undertaken to help the overall effort, he said.

The Minister pointed out that the public sector cannot by itself yield the desired results, calling on the private sector and local administration to contribute towards this goal.

He said hoteliers have a very important role to play in that tourists spend a lot of time at their hotels and their impressions and assessment of the services available are an important factor in the tourist industry.

Personnel training, good infrastructure, introduction of new technologies are significant improvements in this respect, he added.

Referring to 2009, Paschalides said that it was a particularly difficult year for tourism, which showed however that losses can be moderated through hard work, professionalism and determination.