This year will be difficult, full of challenges for tourism, said Energy, Commerce, Industry and Tourism Minister George Lakkotrypis in a speech at the 37th annual Pancyprian Hoteliers Association meeting in Nicosia.
The Minister assured that the big effort underway will continue with a view to securing satisfactory results for 2015.
Keynote speakers from Cyprus and abroad spoke at the conference, and developed topics such as the prospects of air links between Cyprus and other countries, the situation in the Russian economy and its impact on Cypriot tourism, challenges and strategies for the hotel industry and its contribution to the local economy.
In his speech, Lakkotrypis referred to the new model of economic development and the role and contribution of tourism.
“The Government and the Ministry, in close cooperation with the CTO and all stakeholders from the private sector, will continue the titanic effort which began a few months ago to deal with difficulties, solve problems and take all those decisions necessary to achieve satisfactorily in the data, results for 2015,” he said.
“What I would like to emphasize is that the measures taken are the result of the continuous dialogue we have with our overseas partners,” he said.
He said that the Russian market presents uncertainty and the country`s tour operators are considering whether and to what extent they will take risks, while on the other hand, he said, “there are encouraging signs from other major markets, such as the UK and Germany but also smaller markets of Central Europe and the Arab Gulf “.
“In this very difficult period for tourism we must all work hard and in concert” the Minister said, noting that “in the past there were many times various obstacles and difficulties but we showed that we can cope.”
The vote of confidence in the country, such as the recent announcement for a major investment in Ayia Napa, expanding Cyprus`s air links and upgrading partnerships with tour operators abroad, leaves room for optimism, he said.
The Minister referred to the promotion of new routes to and from Cyprus and new partnerships with tour operators, which “is expected to deliver significant results”.
Referring to the Russian market, Lakkotrypis said 16-month collaboration projects with Russian tour operators have been decided.
He referred to the fact that many major tourist quality infrastructure projects are currently being implemented such as casino and new golf courses while work continues to promote and develop specific forms of tourism such as sports tourism, congress tourism and cultural tourism.
Referring to last year, Lakkotrypis said the first half was very satisfactory both in terms of arrivals and in terms of revenue with a 6% increase in arrivals and 12% in revenue. In the second half, he said, things changed, proof of how vulnerable the tourism sector is.
In his address, the Hoteliers` Association President Haris Loizides stressed the need to expand to new markets and continents, limiting the country’s dependence on the main two markets and recovering lost ground from Central and Northern European markets.
Now is the time to make a dynamic entry into markets, noting “we need determination, boldness and flexibility”.
He said 2014 ended with a slight increase of 1.5% in arrivals, which was much lower than original estimates. Income was down by 3% compared to 2013, adding that developments in the political and economic front as far as Russia is concerned do not leave much room for optimism in 2015.
He said there was a decrease in arrivals from Russia in October of 29.3%, in November 25.2% and in December 12.5%. These trends, he added, are expected to continue in 2015.