…
Cyprus’s plans to lengthen the tourist season have yet to be fulfilled, as the goldilocks month of October (neither too hot nor to cold) saw a fourth consecutive decline in tourist arrivals. On the basis of the results of the Passengers Survey, arrivals of tourists reached 267,866 in October 2008 compared to 275,103 in October 2007, recording a decrease of 2.6%. The UK market, which was fallen 3% so far this year, remained weak. Arrivals from the UK fell by 4.9% to 142,868, from 150,301 in October 2007.
There was also a big decline in arrivals from Sweden, which had earlier bucked the trend and been a buoyant market. Swedish arrivals fell 20.2% to 14,795 compared to 18,541 in October 2007. But the decline was not only in non-eurozone countries. Germany saw a 5.7% decrease (16,498 compared to 17,490) and Ireland saw a decline of 31.6% to 2,854.
The figures were released only hours after Tourism Minister Antonis Paschalides said 2009 would be a difficult year for tourism since the World Tourism Organisation was predicting a 9.0 per cent drop in global tourism for next year due to the global economic crisis. Despite this, Paschalides predicts a 1.0 per cent increase airline seats from the UK next year, an optimism the private sector does not necessarily share.
Hoteliers and others in the industry are not impressed either with the state’s package of measures for tourism that include opening consulates abroad, streamlining visa procedures and giving €12 million to the Cyprus Tourism Organisation (CTO). The Minister was speaking yesterday after returning from the World Travel Market in London. “Next year will be a difficult years but if the appropriate measures are taken, any negative impact (of the crisis) will be limited,” said Paschalides. He mentioned the opening of consulates in such countries as Russia, Ukraine, China and India, and also across the Middle East. He also said President Demetris Christofias’ visit to Russia, this week would end in an agreement to promote tourism between the two countries. Paschalides said he would also have a meeting with Cyprus Airways and the CTO to see how they could co-operate to bring in more tourists. “The aim of the Ministry is to have better (air) accessibility to Cyprus,” he said.
However he made it clear that any reduction in airport charges, would be a matter for the Finance Ministry, and not his ministry. Referred back to comments by British tour operators that they expect an overall ten per cent drop in bookings for next year, Paschalides said if that happened, it would be “catastrophic”.
Russia and Greece bucked the trend, which could be related to business rather than leisure tourism. Arrivals from Russia rose by 46.2% from 13,731 in October 2007 to 20,076 in October 2008, while arrivals from Greece rose by 8.3% (from 9,789 to 10,598 this year). For the period January – October 2008 arrivals of tourists fell by 0.6% to 2,233,721 compared to 2,247,596 in the corresponding period of 2007.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
