PASYXE Chairman, Haris Loizides, sounded the alarm on the future of the island’s tourist industry. Speaking at a press conference held on Wednesday for the presentation of the new winter list of hotels, Mr. Loizides stressed that according to the World Tourism Fair in London, the British market has recorded a downward trend. “The British reservations in Cyprus have dropped 26% against a drop of 24% to other competitive tourist destinations”, he said.
Mr. Loizides is also highly concerned about the fact that the contribution of the tourist industry to the GDP has dropped significantly. “Within the period of 5 years it has dropped from 21% to 13%. In real terms, although tourism contributed £1.3 billion to the Cyprus economy in 2001, in 2002 this sum dropped by £300 million”, he stated. Mr. Loizides also expressed his concerns on the T/C regime’s effort to include the occupied areas in the lists of the tour operators. “We managed to avert the adoption of its name to the IH&RA. However, the state must contribute too. We need a single planning and a collective effort”, he added.
As for the termination of activities of Ajet in Cyprus, PASYXE Chairman said that the company brought 70 thousand tourists to Cyprus every year. “We must find ways not to lose this number of tourists. This will be feasible with the conduct of more flights from Eurocypria and Cyprus Airways or via cooperation with other air companies”, he said.
Mr. Loizides expressed his discontent on the delay in the withdrawal of old hotels. “The traditional hotels in Cyprus decide to close during winter due to this problem. This winter will be the worst in the past decade. The state must subsidize the hotel units to renew their rooms or give tax incentives”, he said.
The winter list of hotels includes 87 hotel units “with attractive prices that start from £5 per person for a studio and £7 for a twin-bed room in a hotel”.
On behalf of the Bank of Cyprus American Express card, which sponsors the PASYXE winter list, Manager of the Card Center, Haris Pistos said that the improvement of internal tourism will be a factor of stability against the uncertainty of external tourism”, he concluded.
Mr. Loizides is also highly concerned about the fact that the contribution of the tourist industry to the GDP has dropped significantly. “Within the period of 5 years it has dropped from 21% to 13%. In real terms, although tourism contributed £1.3 billion to the Cyprus economy in 2001, in 2002 this sum dropped by £300 million”, he stated. Mr. Loizides also expressed his concerns on the T/C regime’s effort to include the occupied areas in the lists of the tour operators. “We managed to avert the adoption of its name to the IH&RA. However, the state must contribute too. We need a single planning and a collective effort”, he added.
As for the termination of activities of Ajet in Cyprus, PASYXE Chairman said that the company brought 70 thousand tourists to Cyprus every year. “We must find ways not to lose this number of tourists. This will be feasible with the conduct of more flights from Eurocypria and Cyprus Airways or via cooperation with other air companies”, he said.
Mr. Loizides expressed his discontent on the delay in the withdrawal of old hotels. “The traditional hotels in Cyprus decide to close during winter due to this problem. This winter will be the worst in the past decade. The state must subsidize the hotel units to renew their rooms or give tax incentives”, he said.
The winter list of hotels includes 87 hotel units “with attractive prices that start from £5 per person for a studio and £7 for a twin-bed room in a hotel”.
On behalf of the Bank of Cyprus American Express card, which sponsors the PASYXE winter list, Manager of the Card Center, Haris Pistos said that the improvement of internal tourism will be a factor of stability against the uncertainty of external tourism”, he concluded.
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