Tourism industry in Cyprus: numbers over quality?

Some have wondered why there was such a recent fuss from those involved in the tourist industry over a story in the Daily Express of the United Kingdom. Professionals in the field were caught off guard when the research predicted a "huge drop" in bookings and a loss of €30 million for the industry.

On Wednesday, Pasyxe's General Manager Philokypros Roussounides explained that the Express had utilised out-of-date statistics. He pointed out that the article makes reference to an interview with the president of Pasyxe that happened quite a while ago. Roussounides said that this year's arrival numbers were comparable to those of the previous year. Hermes Airports also reported no decline in passengers' numbers when compared to the prior year.

He also mentioned that this report seems to be rather harmless, so why the big deal? Instead of slamming the tourist business, the article just brought attention to a typical occurrence inside it. Downturns are inevitable in every industry, including the tourism industry. Stakeholders and tour operators shouldn't be alarmed by this fact.

The industry's focus on numbers appears to be the source of the shout. The emphasis is still solidly on quantity, even if there have been numerous discussions about improving tourism quality. The authorities often use high arrival counts as a measure of success, but their obsession with numbers prompts the question: where does it end?

Overdevelopment of popular resorts is being ignored due to this obsession on numbers. These areas are now concrete jungles full of hotels, apartments, cafés, and clubs due to the excessive construction. The industry has grown in response to mass tourism, but there is a breaking point beyond which overdeveloped resorts become unattractive. The resources of the country are being strained and local communities are being affected by the relentless pursuit of more visitors to support new hotels, pubs, and restaurants.

Consider the island of Sicily. It has turned away tourists because of the extreme drought and the critical water shortages. The industry's goals are all wrong, even though Cyprus is facing water scarcity, it is still focused on attracting large numbers of tourists.

A growing industry is not always the result of an increase of arrivals. Despite an increase in visits this year, hotel reservations have fallen compared to previous year, according to Chrysemili Psilogeni, Director of Cyprus Tourism Enterprises (Stek). Noting declines in both visitor spending and duration of stay, she stressed that arrival numbers are not the greatest measure of success.

Basically, in their opinion more visitors won't mean more revenue, but they will certainly have a greater impact in already-scarce resources. However, the tourism industry appears to be less concerned with sustainability and tourist quality as long as visitor numbers increase.