Coronavirus: Worried tourism sector calls for clear strategy from government

Travel agents said on Wednesday they were sounding the alarm as tourism prospects remained in limbo while Cyprus has not yet come up with a strategy to handle the uncertainties that could arise from inconsistencies in handling of vaccinations and testing.

President of the Association of Cyprus Travel Agents (Acta) Vasilis Stamataris urged the government to get its act together without delay. He told a news conference that tourism needed to be restarted in one way or another rather than the industry “sitting on its laurels”, waiting to see what will happen.

Most of the uncertainty stems from the situation in the UK. The government there has not made up its mind whether to allow leisure travel after May 17 as it initially said. With no firm indication likely until April 5, speculation suggests the ban on going abroad might be extended until the end of June.

Amid all travel turmoil, an optimistic Ryanair, citing the vaccine rollout on Wednesday announced 34 routes in total from Paphos this summer, including five new destinations, mainly in Italy.

“Although we are entering April, no one knows for sure how travel will take place this year, how tourists will come to Cyprus and in general how the tourist season will develop,” Acta’s Stamataris said.

He said the tourism sector could not be based exclusively on vaccinations as they alone do not potentially create the required “critical mass” that would allow the industry to operate normally.

“We are a breath away from the upcoming tourist season and the lack of a management protocol for vaccinated persons upon their arrival remains a significant gap, which should be addressed immediately,” Stamataris said.

“We cannot wait for the European ‘green certificate’, since on the one hand it may be delayed and on the other hand the conditions that will govern it may not be satisfactory. Several European countries are moving forward with their own measures and corresponding applications. Cyprus must do the same,” he added.

He cited EU figures showing that 54 per cent of Europeans want to travel before the end of July 2021, 41 per cent want to travel to another European country, 69 per cent feel safer traveling to a country with strict health criteria, and 21 per cent say they expect health protocols to impact their travel experience.

Stamataris said other countries were already preparing “feverishly” by putting strategies in place for basic health rules and taking various other initiatives without waiting around.

“We must do the same with the ultimate goal of ensuring that we will take advantage of all prospects for this year, whatever they are. We cannot and should not rest on our laurels,” he said. “Acta is sounding the alarm and asking everyone to rise to the occasion. We need a specific strategy, with planning and attention to detail in order to successfully pass this year’s challenges.”

Although Stamataris said Acta acknowledges the fact that enormous efforts have been made and continue to be made by the competent ministries and agencies, Acta feels the government should adopt more of the suggestions of the industry.

In that context the association has put forward a series of suggestions it believes will help move things forward.

These include a proposal to ‘map’ Cyprus’ districts by their epidemiological data. “We should do what is necessary to protect resorts from possible bad epidemiological picture of other areas,” the Acta chief said.

He also said that workers in the tourism industry be vaccinated after those of vulnerable groups, and that some countries have already announced the measure. Other business organisations on the island have suggested the same.

On testing, he said in the case of arrivals from ‘red countries’ who must carry a negative PCR test, Stamataris said another PCR test on landing should be replaced with a rapid antigen test, at cost to the state as they are much cheaper than PCR and take less time.

“There is a risk of losing a large number of tourists. These individuals arrive already having a negative PCR test that is less than 72 hours old and then they have a three-hour – at best – delay until they get their [PCR] results,” he said. This means many will already be at their hotels, in most cases by bus.

“A possible positive case will complicate things for other travellers who may miss their vacation due to being deemed a contact,” he added.

Once a tourist has successfully passed the set criteria, there should be no further restrictions.

Acta also wants the government to extend an extraordinary law from 2020 allowing them to offer vouchers instead of refunds due to the continued uncertainty. “Extending state guarantees will further protect consumers who may not be able to travel soon,” said Stamataris.

The association came under heavy criticism at the time from those who did not want a voucher and would have preferred a refund.

Acta also wants help from the government that it believes will help the industry survive by reducing VAT for travel agents and other tourism providers from 19 per cent to 9 per cent until the end of 2022, plus state guarantees for low-interest loans as many travel agencies are considered SMEs.

The government, Stamataris said, needed to look at competitiveness in the Covid era due to the higher costs of implementing health protocols “putting Cyprus at an extremely disadvantageous position during this very difficult period”.

“As we all know, the competitiveness of Cypriot tourism has been suffering for years, due to high operating costs,” he said. “At this critical stage we must be very careful, and we must avoid further burdening these costs by making decisions that unfortunately in some cases bring more costs than benefits.”