Cyprus Editorial: Freshman heads CTO

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Seeing as at 36, the Cyprus Tourism Organisation’s new boss, Marios Hannides, is just a year younger than Greece’s maverick left wing leader Alexis Tsipras, judging someone from his age would be unfair.
The fact that Hannides was a CTO board member before being appointed new Director General by his peers should not be seen as a disadvantage either.
However, what is a concern to all of us, and probably the whole services-based economy that still relies heavily on tourism, is whether through his affiliations with the ruling Akel party, Hannides will have the political courage to stand up to the current administration and demand that the CTO marketing budget be increased to at least double of what it is today, if not even tenfold.
The new DG is well aware of the budget cuts that had been imposed on the current board and the members’ inability to tell the government the grave mistake that has resulted because of this weakness. Even cash-strapped Athens has realised that now is the most critical time for the survival of its economy and has deployed an aggressive promotional campaign to promote tourism to Greece. Are we children of a lesser God?
He must also be capable to negotiate major deals with tour operators and airlines in order to boost arrivals with real benefits to Cyprus, not just superficial deals with low-cost airlines that use bullying tactics to make a quick buck. Will he also have the clout to tell executives at the aged Flying Moufflon to get their act together and improve the service and image of our nation’s leading tourist ambassador?
Marios Hannides has an impressive CV, has worked with several public institutions and served on various boards, thus reaping valuable experiences from all aspects of business and society. His knowledge of the tourism sector will be judged very quickly and, unfortunately for him, will be the subject of acute criticism if things do not improve for the tourism sector.
We hope that his appointment was the best possible choice as we no longer have the luxury to wait-and-see.