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Despite the extraordinary warm autumn weather we enjoyed in October, tourist arrivals were disappointingly down for the month, with a similar drop in sector earnings.
Official figures suggest that we should end the year with an 11% loss in tourism figures, far worse than other areas whereas the European tourist market should close the year with a 5% drop.
With 1.75 mln tourists believed to have vacationed here so far this year, we are not too far off from the 1.8 mln arrivals estimated for neighbouring Lebanon that does not have the infrastructure, quality and services that we offer.
So, where have we gone wrong? Why has the significant, to us, Russian market recorded a 20% fall in tourism figures, at a time when the crucial British market is understandably down by more than 7%?
Should we be consoled by the fact that other European Mediterranean destinations such as Greece, Italy and Spain are also down for the year?
As the industry analyst Perpetual Traveller commented, “world is expected to return to modest growth by the half way mark of 2010. So there is light at the end of the tunnel, but its not shining brightly and only a vision.”
This ‘down time’ for our tourism sector should be better utilised to promote Cyprus as a quality destination. Since we can no longer compete on the price level, all the partners should engage in a collective effort to see what we can save by putting aside the ego-driven issues such as militant and unreasonable union demands on the one hand, and the greed-driven priorities of the hoteliers on the other.
The World Travel Market in London is just around the corner and if Cyprus once again goes to that exhibition as the poor beggar then we are doomed. The CTO should be given a free hand to spend as wisely as it thinks to promote Cyprus in as many markets as possible, throughout the next six months, despite the lull in autumn and winter tourism.
Our image must be improved and we should play up the authentic tastes, cultural diversity and unique activities that Cyprus has to offer. In the meantime, this will also be a good opportunity for us to regroup and reassess our few strengths and many weaknesses, to ensure that when the next wave of tourists come they are not disappointed and will probably return.
