It is everyone's responsibility to maintain the competitiveness of Cyprus’ tourism, Deputy Minister of Tourism, Kostas Koumis said on Tuesday, adding that despite that the country was faced with many challenges, positive results were being recorded this year as well.

In his statements and greeting at an event in Ayia Napa, Koumis said that, in order for the tourism of the country, but also of the free Famagusta area to maintain its competitiveness, “we must successfully face the challenges of today and tomorrow”. Climate change is here, he added, noting that it was already affecting the decisions of millions of potential visitors, as well as the decisions of thousands of repeat visitors.

As regards this July, Koumis said that, “although it was always considered an easy month” and while statistics will show a good outcome, in his opinion, it has already been affected by climate change and high temperatures. The same applies to August while the same will always apply from now on, he noted.

Koumis also said that, for the Protaras and Ayia Napa resorts to remain competitive, as well as the whole of the free Famagusta area, it was necessary to further improve the infrastructure, and take initiatives that would make the destinations much more attractive, among other things.

“If we want to remain competitive”, he added, many other elements must be added to the “sea and sun” product.

Koumis referred to the different challenges facing tourism today such as the green transition, digital transformation, improving accessibility infrastructure. “This year we faced and are facing a number of other challenges, such as the war in the Eastern Mediterranean region, which we hope will not escalate, the economic recession in most European economies, as well as the unprecedented crisis in the aviation sector, which fortunately we successfully dealt with”, he said.

Noting that, results so far were “quite good under the circumstances”, Koumis said that they require a thorough analysis and that stronger cooperation was needed between all those who make up the tourism ecosystem of the country.

He also referred to the Tourism Observatory, noting that it was a new institution that operates under the umbrella of the Deputy Ministry of Tourism by decision of the Council of Ministers. On Tuesday, the findings of the Observatory were presented in Ayia Napa in the context of the meetings held by the Deputy Ministry of Tourism in all the districts in Cyprus, on the role of local government in tourism development.

Koumis said that it was very important to share the findings with the local authorities of each district and that issues were discussed with honesty.

Cyprus’ tourism, he said, remains very competitive, and this was proven by this year's results which, despite the fact that we have to face many challenges, he added, positive results have been recorded this year as well.

It is everyone’s responsibility to maintain the competitiveness of Cyprus’ tourism, he said.

Responding to a question about noise pollution, Koumis said that a bill has been prepared by his Deputy Ministry which is expected to provide solutions once passed by Parliament and implemented. He said that it is to be approved by the Council of Ministers soon and tabled to Parliament to vote.

He also noted that individual destinations were lively cities that host visitors who want to have a good time and that there was no destination around the world that did not record problems. “Our own responsibility”, he added, is to limit these problems in cooperation with the local authorities.