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20 November 2009
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Tourism in Cyprus is in a dichotomous position:
it is an economic necessity and an environmental disaster. Currently, the
Republic welcomes something over 2 million visitors per year, which is about
three times the resident population. A considerable part of these belong to
the "sea, sun, sand, speed and sex" brigade, whose spending is not very high
and who therefore relatively consume more resources than they give towards
the economy. Unfortunately a rash of hotels in the Protaras, Ayia Napa,
Limassol and Paphos regions have sprung up like mushrooms to cater for this
sector. Many of the hotel owners believe that these are the goose that lays
the golden eggs, not realising that they are, in fact, committing a
long-term economic suicide.
A healthy tourism industry relies on a
clientele that spends freely. Cyprus has the means to attract this kind of
visitor, but he is currently revolted by the "slapper Napa" image, in the
same way as Ibiza and Benedorm, so simply does not come. The question lies,
then, in how to change the image from that of 2 million visitors spending,
say, €500 each (including the prepaid hotel accommodation), on an average,
to half that number spending three times as much. This would benefit both
the economy and the environment.
This requires exploiting the country's assets,
other than the beaches. There are three unique assets, cultural, natural and
scenic (and I don't mean the beaches, which are, on the whole, fairly
mediocre). These are attractive to a more intelligent segment of the
population who are often in the richer slices of the population. These
people do not have to take their holidays in July and August and, in fact,
can come in late March to mid-May, when the country is at its finest - and
the weather is better. Of course, many of the hotels are closed during this
period.
The Cyprus Tourism Organisation (CTO) therefore
needs to start promoting high class holidays for people who want to visit
the archeological and historic sites, examine the unique biota of the Akamas
and the Troodos Massif or "twitch" on the migration routes. For this, they
should select the best hotels and make sure the visitors receive a top-class
service. Restaurants catering for these visitors should not be of the "chips
with everything" or the pseudo-taverna varieties, but gastronomic delights
with good wines at prices commensurate with the quality, but not
exaggerated. Above all, the services offered to these people must be
excellent in quality, without inflated prices, such as are sometimes
practised in some of the so-called "night clubs". These people are not
interested in seeing how many glasses can be balanced on the head of
costumed men prancing to the tune of canned music, although they may be
interested in the real folklore.
Once this type of off-season tourism started to
take off, then the CTO could start phasing down the cheapest, mass-tourism
market, perhaps promoting only the better end of it. Yes, it would mean that
the restaurants, bars and hotels catering for the lower end would have to
offer better service, without fleecing the tourists with exaggerated prices,
or close down. I don't pretend that this can be done overnight; it will
probably take a decade to change the image of tourism.
So what would the benefits of such a change be?
Obviously an improved economy, less liable to fluctuations as the economic
conjuncture varies (the targetted tourists would be in more stable financial
positions). If it were possible to halve the number of tourists, then the
environmental effects would also be reduced, perhaps not by half but very
substantially. Electricity consumption would drop. Above all, water
consumption would be reduced, perhaps obviating the need for more
desalination plants.
There would also be a price to pay by the
ordinary population. This type of tourist would travel more around the
country and he would not want to see litter by the roadsides or along the
nature trails. He would probably be using better quality rental cars which
would be clean and well maintained, but he would not want to be "burnt up"
by every budding Schumacher disregarding all the rules of the road. In other
words, the local population would have to learn to become as disciplined as
the Northern European and not to treat tourists as milch cows.
Finally, let me come back to the question of
food. The average quality of the meze, the souvlakia, the
pastitsia, the moussaka and other traditional foods served in most
restaurants is deplorable. I remember buying souvlakia made with
succulent lamb, onions, peppers, and tomatoes, all grilled together on
charcoal, in a tender pita envelope, from street vendors, for 4½ piastres in
the 1950s. These were mouth-watering, compared with the fatty, tough, pork
apologies that are served today, perhaps with a slice of raw tomato, some
limp cucumber and a lettuce leaf. In those days, a ham or salami sandwich
was made with real ham or salami and not the factory-made, water-soaked,
tasteless rubbish that passes for them nowadays. Chicken even tasted like
chicken, rather than an insipid, fibrous cardboard. Some Cyprus wine is
excellent, most is mediocre, some is downright awful. Great strides have
been made by some wine-growers and even some of the factories to produce
better wine in recent years, but there is still room for considerable
progress. Above all, much of the imported wine, especially the heavily
promoted French wines from the Languedoc region, is utter rubbish that sells
only on the snob appeal of being French. This "plonk" bears no comparison
with a good Burgundy or Bordeaux (which are sold here at highly exaggerated
prices) or even a good Cyprus wine. The "new" tourist that I would like to
see in this country is not only a cultured nature-lover, he knows good food
and wine that he takes pleasure in eating and drinking. He will not tolerate
second-rate fare.
Has Cyprus a reputation?
Increasingly, yes, and not a good one. Apart
from the poor value for money by the mass tourism industry, already evoked,
it is farther away from the major sources of tourists and the cost of air
travel from, say, the UK or Germany is inherently higher than to Spain or
Italy. This has been offset, to some extent, by the development of
"no-frills" airlines, with no service and cramped seating. The tourist
arrives after 4½ hours of near purgatory, tired and bad tempered, in the
middle of the night. After waiting 45 minutes, his baggage may - or may not
- arrive on the carousel, perhaps damaged. If he has rented private
accommodation, he will need a taxi. He does not know that the meter is
compulsory and looks forward to a few hours in bed, to find he has been
ripped off €50 for a 3 km journey.
However, it is not just the tourist who is
ripped off, the airlines he travels on are, as well, and this is reflected
in the price of the ticket. Despite the protestations by the airport
operators, Hermes, Larnaca and Paphos airports charge horrendous landing
fees which add to the price of the tickets. And all the services within the
airports are poor in quality and expensive, to boot.
Yes, I tend to exaggerate because sometimes the
baggage arrives without a wait and the majority of taxi drivers are honest,
but the drift should be clear.
However, there is one reputation that is
difficult to shake off and that is the cult of violence on the part of
tourists and club employees alike in places close to Ayia Napa Square and a
few similar localities. The UK army in Dhekelia has placed this clubland out
of bounds to their squaddies for a very good reason and it is not because a
burly infantryman cannot look after himself but because they are afraid he
will do exactly that and increase the mayhem (and possibly reduce their
exposure to vendors of illicit substances!). If this clubbing is to
continue, the violence must be better controlled. The tourists need
protection from themselves by enforcing good behaviour: it says all that the
clubs need to employ bouncers.
Will tourism survive oil prices?
This is a question that Cyprus has not
addressed, as far as I'm aware. As a background, please read the
essay on oil. Briefly, some time within the next few years, the global supply of
oil will be insufficient to meet the demand. This means that the price will
escalate and even the $150/bbl we saw recently will become a pleasant
memory. This will have severe repercussions on air travel and the economy,
in general, will take a major downturn. As far as I'm aware, no one has
modelled the impact this will have on tourism on the island. My gut feeling
is that mass-tourism, as we know it today, will disappear, or largely so.
High-class tourism may survive but at a reduced rate. The important thing to
note is that this will not be a small downwards blip that will disappear
after a couple of years, but a permanent and increasingly severe downturn in
the number of tourists visiting the island.
The tourist industry, as it is today, is not
environmentally sustainable and must shrink to become so. In order to
maintain the economy, this means that a different class of tourist must be
attracted. Good, honest, service must be promoted, in preference to the
exploitation of mass tourism, with a better spread of tourists throughout
the year. Quality, rather than quantity, should be the keyword.
Cyprus Tourism Organisation
Κυπριακού Οργανισμού Τουρισμού
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