The Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report highlights the need for long term strategy beyond filling up hotels, rental cars and taxis.
The difficult period and the economic downturn marks the the fourth edition of The Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report at a time when the industry seeks to rebound with cautious optimism in ensuring successful development.
This year's Report, published under the theme "Beyond the Downturn," reflects the importance of addressing the many complexities that still face the industry and the difficulties that must be overcome to ensure strong sectoral growth going into the future. Aside from providing valuable comparative insights, it allows for governments and business
leaders in providing insights as to the obstacles to T&T competitiveness, in
order to benefit fully from the sector's development.
Aside from the valuable competitive index where we can learn how it is that Cyprus sustains its 24th place from 21st in 2009, it also allows to detect strengths and weaknesses in the governmental policies and their effects on performance of the sector in general.
Quickly identifying what Cyprus does well, it's in the business environment and infrastructure of travel and tourism that it excels, as it even ranks Nº 1 in the Tourism infrastructure pillar. Essentially this is due, to the high number of hotel rooms per 100 inhabitants and proof of the excellent work performed by the Hotel and construction sectors in the past. However the dominance of the hotel sector as principal supplier makes it clear why the demands for increased promotional pressure to sustaining arrivals.
The consequence of policies focused on promotion and meeting estimated arrival quotas, is the other side of the touristic infrastructural abundance. The diagram illustrating the 14 pillars that constitute the index, these allow to identify the competitive imbalances of the Cyprus Tourism ranking extremely low in areas that are 'contre nature'.
Cultural Resources Pillar: 10.000 years of cultural civilization and heritage publicized and yet cyprus ranks 91st, just below Albania and Namibia in creative industries exports, and dropping to the 62th spot on the ranking for the number of world heritage sites (Cultural, Oral and Intagible heritage). Meaning that not only creative industries are not being fomented enough, it appears Cyprus suffers from lack of cultural renewal, meaning that little intangible cultural heritage is being created from existing assets.
Natural resources Pillar: One would expect that being an island, conservation, and sustainability would sit at the core of government policies. Nevertheless, the striking figures highlight that a lagging transport network achieves a ranking (80th) and may be the prime reason as to why Cyprus has the respected rank (111th) of sending as much carbon dioxide emissions per capita as our German, or Japanese counterparts.
The tourism sector has been always on the dividing line about price vs value, the diagram below illustrates how little relevant the premium market segment plays in the Cyprus tourism strategies. Indeed, business travelers and holidaymakers have different perspectives when planning to invest in or visit countries, as 70% of the premium segment are business travelers, actually, the pillars of natural and cultural resources are actually more critical as drivers for the non-premium market segments.
The theme of the report "beyond the downturn" adequately recognizes the call to direct resources and attention to those areas of competitive imbalance.
10 years of strategy and predictive linear growth should have brought us 3.500.000 annual visitors and this is a loss for hoteliers that have notably contributed to achieving capacity of Tourism infrastructure. Two weeks ago, the Cyprus Hotel Association demanded collectively, a time for take off for the industry, and with it the restitution of promotional budgets.
You can feel happy reading the about temporal tourism hikes in arrivals, as those from last month, as it can even be understandable wanting to fulfill the wishes of a valuable participant in tourism value chain. However, it is only reasonable that it should be the competitiveness imbalances of a sector that should be setting the agenda in terms of investments. Or not?
About the Report
The Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report 2011 measures and analyzes the drivers of T&T competitiveness in economies around the world. The Report includes an analysis of the rankings of the Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index (TTCI), which aims to measure the factors and policies that make it attractive to develop the T&T sector in 139 industrialized and emerging economies. the Report appeals to a broad audience including policymakers, business leaders, and members of the academic community. As part of the series produced by the World Economic Forum's Centre for Global Competitiveness and Performance, the Report also brings together a range of leading experts in the field. Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report 2011
Overcoming an uncomfortable reality, Cyprus Hotel Association to make a balance of 10 years of lack luster growth projections of the Cyprus Tourism Industry
The agenda for the 33rd Annual conference of the Cyprus Hotel Association (CHA) to be celebrated in Nicosia on the 3rd of March is bound to set a clear awakening message to the the sector.
The annual event addresses issues of the sector for professionals and executives linked to the economic and commercial realms of the tourism sector in general, as well as hotel property owners, General Managers and general members of the CHA.
In this year's edition special emphasis will be placed on the speed of changes in the tourism sector worldwide, the unfulfilled expectations resulting from projected arrivals in past strategic plans and the increasingly intense
competitive environment in the context of the
prolonged economic crisis.
The event to be presided by Haris Loizides, which will have as its main theme " CYPRUS TOURISM - IN TRANSITION FOR TOO LONG - IT'S TIME FOR TAKE-OFF"
will also count with the participation of speakers from the association, the ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism, Pricewaterhousecoopers and from the president of HOTREC, Mr. K. Nyström, whose organization based in Brussels will provide an interesting view of Europe and emerging policies affecting the hotel and tourism industry.
The annual conference is not only an opportunity to see what will move one of the key stakeholder of the Tourism industry but is also a chance to attend the leading products & Services exhibition, related to hospitality which will run for it's 19th consecutive year. For the occasion the CHA will present its publication of the primary "Guide to Products and Services' of interest to hoteliers and tourism in general.
The agenda for the event can be dowloaded at the Cyprus Hotel Association: Agenda for 33rd Annual Conference
Data Sources: Cyprus Hotel Association, CTO (ZI/SP) 18/1/2011