A new survey carried out by PwC in collaboration with the PwC Chair in Business Research at the University of Nicosia highlights five aspects of the Cypriot winter tourism product that require further improvement. The survey was conducted among 500 tourists who visited Cyprus during February and March 2014, using structured questionnaires.
During the presentation of the findings, Mr Petros Petrakis, Partner, In charge of Hospitality & Leisure at PwC, stated that the survey aims to identify the key characteristics of tourists visiting Cyprus during the winter season and to assess the country’s tourism product through their eyes and experience. In addition, the survey aims to record the travel motivations of tourists who selected Cyprus for their winter vacations and to compare Cyprus with other competitive destinations.
The survey highlights the following five areas for improvement:
– The need to enhance special forms of tourism (such as agrotourism, religious and conference tourism) in order to provide incentives for visiting during the winter months
– Inability to respond to tourists’ expectations when it comes to certain special forms of tourism
– The price/cost correlation of our tourism product (value for money)
– The use of sustainability principles in defining the country as a winter destination in order to address seasonality
– Selecting appropriate promotional channels, focusing on efforts to communicate the right messages on the internet and social media networks.
Mr Petrakis highlighted the importance of Cyprus’ strong points in addressing seasonality and upgrading the tourism sector in general. According to Mr Petrakis, these include Cyprus’ mild climate, extended periods of sunshine and its ability to enrich the sector with special forms of tourism such as cultural tourism, health and wellness tourism; the high level of satisfaction expressed by visitors who had the chance to experience one or more special forms of tourism, as well as an important percentage of regular visitors (brand loyal) to Cyprus over the winter season.
Among the ten most important reasons for visiting Cyprus during the winter season, the mild climate and warm temperatures ranks first. The survey concludes that this factor represents the most important incentive (89%) for visiting the island, with culture (53%) being a distant runner-up.
PwC’s survey entitled ‘Seasonality & winter tourism: Cyprus’ product through the eyes of tourists’ was presented on 26 November during a special event featuring an open discussion with the participation of CTO President Mr Angelos Loizou, PASYXE Director General Mr Zacharias Ioannides, ACTE Director General, Mrs Chrisemily Psilogeni Kenevezou and Dr Nicos Peristianis, President of the Council of the University of Nicosia.
