Upgrading our hotels, restaurants, and hospitality centres, providing quality service to patrons, but the cost of the new changes is very high, especially for Cypriot budgets.
Two flagships of Greek tourism (Mykonos and Santorini) far exceed us in demand over the last two years, with the brand of fashionable and celebrity visitors.
However, along with the short-sighted treatment of local hotels and entertainment centres, excessive charges are pushed to the point where negative comments started appearing in the international media about these two islands and tourism in Greece.
The demolitions of illegal premises have also begun, while the beating of archaeologists, who are an obstacle to illegal buildings, all created a completely negative image, resulting in a reduction in demand by 30% for hotels this year and a 50% reduction for rental of villas.
According to media reports, tourists in Greece have moved to more affordable resorts, such as Paros and other islands.
In contrast, others have abandoned Greece for Croatia and even Albania or Turkey, where the coastline has elements of Hellenism and excellent hospitality at a much lower cost.
Cyprus has the problem of noise (especially in the Protaras and Ayia Napa area), and several reports of complaints have been published.
Let me remind you of the complaint about a discotheque initiated by the authorities and that in three days, the license was issued (both by the Deputy Ministry of Tourism, Municipality and other Authorities), resulting in comments of “imagine what sort of contacts this property has”.
On 1/7/2023 at 9 pm, a tourist boat with blasting speakers was making an excursion along the coast and the DJ after driving everyone crazy, even at a distance of 1 km.
At first, we thought of reporting the matter to the but for what – nothing will be done!
The next night at 10 pm, a tourist yacht in which we imagine someone was celebrating their birthday or otherwise, for about 20 minutes it was unleashing fireworks with exploding noise.
Our neighbours, with two children, began to worry, and the children (about 5-8 years old) started to cry.
We invited them to our nearby house, and they calmed down after providing them with toys for the children.
The family from Ukraine explained the children (and themselves) have psychological problems due to the Russian invasion.
Again, where could we report this unacceptable fact? To the authorities of Paralimni? We are wasting our time.
Another recent event is the protest of some Muslims in Chlorakas holding up the Koran and chanting.
Understandably, the locals also took to the streets and in the next stage, there may be clashes with the involvement of far-right parties.
Despite the protests of the Paphos municipality, the situation may soon be out of control.
I mention these events because Cyprus, a popular tourist destination, demands the tranquillity of holidays.
It is also interesting to note the recent report by the former mayor of Ayia Napa and ex-Minister of Transport that we should learn from the recent review of CCTV systems to increase the sense of security among visitors.
While the installation of this system has proven to be useful (as was the case of the arrest of the Limassol bomber with the skateboard), there was also the negative position of the Commissioner for Personal Data on this.
What will the Deputy Minister of Tourism do, who, despite all his efforts and the declarations about opening up to new destinations, will not have a serious product to rely on?
By Antonis Loizou FRICS – Antonis Loizou & Associates EPE – Property Appraisers, Property Sellers & Development Project Managers
