Business | Tourism
Cyprus tourism needs state support for 2009 - hoteliers
Cyprus's tourism industry needs state support to weather the knock-on effects of the global financial crisis in 2009, the head of the country's hoteliers' association said on Monday.
- Reuters
- Published: 23:31 October 28, 2008
Nicosia: Cyprus's tourism industry needs state support to weather the knock-on effects of the global financial crisis in 2009, the head of the country's hoteliers' association said on Monday.
Tourism accounts for about 13 per cent of Cyprus's gross domestic product, but the outlook for the market is uncertain amid worsening financial turmoil spreading globally.
"There is a problem...but the most pressing issue is the short timeframe from now until November 10, when the World Tourism Market in London opens and our competitors present their destinations' tourism offerings for summer 2009," said Harris Loizides, president of the Cyprus Hotel Association.
"It is well known that for several years now there has been an erosion in the competitiveness of the tourism industry... We have to see what the government can do to support the tourism industry," Cyprus finance minister Charilaos Stavrakis said.
Loizides said that the issue of high airport tariffs charged to passengers and airlines would have to be solved.
Electricity bills
He said major investment incentives also needed to be offered for the refurbishment of older hotels and lower electricity bills for hotels should be offered.
"In Greece electricity per guest is 2 euros, in Cyprus it is 6 euros which is unfair," Loizides said.
According to the latest data until September, arrivals to the east Mediterranean island were virtually flat at 1.96 million, a 0.3 per cent drop from the January to September 2007 period. Arrivals of Britons alone dropped off by 11.6 per cent in September.
"Out of the 2.5 million tourists to Cyprus [annually], 50 per cent are British. We cannot afford to neglect this market, which is one of the countries affected by the global financial crisis," Loizides said.
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