Although the figures indicate clearly a loss of competitiveness, I believe we have it wrong comparing Cyprus with destinations such as Turkey, Morocco or Egypt which are comfortably positioned on their capacity to absorb mass tourism and thus a clear misconception as to where should Cyprus be positioning itself strategically.
Sole market dependence has always been a risk and it's time we enjoyed the sour fruits of intermediated marketing and being fed on the crumbs of mass tourism.
We need urgently a complete review of marketing intelligence with deeper respect and understanding of developments in other destinations so that Cyprus can be able to re-check its competitiveness health. The logical place to start is the Mediterranean: Why is it that European and international appeal is maintained at destinations such as Capri, Corfu, Corsica, Crete, Hvar, Ídra, Mallorca, Ibiza, Malta, Mykonos, Santorini, Sardinia, Sicily - are these not evident benchmarks already in our neighborhood?
Just comparing numbers and price levels would be surrendering ourselves to the myopic view of the Cyprus Hoteliers Association (CHA). Time will prove that we have to be more courageous and confront ourselves with the much higher expectations that a destination such as Cyprus should be delivering upon: Environmental positioning, cultural packaging and development, tourism services, itineraries and accessibility, light train/green transport, rural development and biodiversity management.
In conclusion, when comparing ourselves to destinations that are by nature receptive to mass tourism - I believe that we are automatically lowering the bar as to what our tourism policies and customer service should be delivering upon. It's high time to be delivering on our own standards and not against destinations which belong to completely different competitive environments.
We are in complete agreement that its high time to get the ball rolling; to turn up our sleeves so as to move beyond discussions, but not in lowering expectations just to meet the numbers and without a word about excellence, creativity, design and innovation. Thanks to EDEN and the sustainability initiative by European Destinations of Excellence for raising the bar of expectations, True Beauty Revealed, has it's rewards.
Photo Credit: Kato Pyrgos (european destination of excellence, EDEN)
Mrs Phoebe Katsouris, director general of the Cyprus Tourism Organisation since her appointment in 2006 will not be able to complete fully with her 5 year term. The result of a pending legal procedure has, as of today, invalidated her appointment, and added to recent changes in the board leadership, leads us to think, that she will be forced to present her resignation, since it can be assumed from latest board meeting that the process of finding a substitute may have already begun.
The process of executing such a task has to observe strict procedures and we do not anticipate to have a quick candidate at the helm of Cyprus Tourism organization until appointed substitutes will have taken over her functions temporarily.
As Head of the Planning
and Organisation Department, Mrs Katsouris had under her responsibility
among others, the preparation and implementation of the 10 year
Strategic Plan for Tourism which was adopted and is supported by the
Cyprus Government, the preparation of studies and research on the
important projects related to tourism development in Cyprus, and has
undertaken a number of initiatives for the introduction of a number of
innovative tourist programs such as Sports Tourism, Cultural Tourism,
Nautical Tourism and the Development of Marinas, Religious Tourism, and
Agrotourism.
She played a leading role in the preparation and implementation of programs co funded by the European Structural Funds. Mrs. Kastouris stepping down as director of the organization will leave a big void and hopefully also mark the beginning of a new era.