Paphos banks on digital campaign to boost tourism

The Paphos tourism board (Etap) and Paphos hoteliers association (Pasyxe) this week held a joint event in which they presented the final results of the district’s digital campaign to promote Paphos as a tourist destination, with deputy minister for tourism Savvas Perdios in attendance.

Aside from Perdios, the event also saw the participation of hotel owners and other stakeholders from the Cypriot tourism sector.

According to the results, which were produced by Global Media and Modulus Marketing House, more than 8 million unique potential visitors received messages disseminated throughout the digital campaign.

In addition, 3.4 million people who received the campaign’s online video viewed it to completion, an important metric in digital marketing.

“We are satisfied that Paphos has embraced modern trends in the field of digital marketing,” Perdios said, noting that this is an initiative that was started two years ago by the private sector and the Paphos tourism board.

“We have supported the board’s efforts through the form of a sponsorship and we are happy to see this effort not only being implemented but that it’s helping to improve both the campaign’s results and targeting,” he added.

Furthermore, the deputy minister of tourism stated that this campaign will be extended until the end of this year. The minister noted that the next step is to further increase the funds available for this campaign so that it can become a permanent fixture, something that the Paphos tourism board has also requested.

“If Paphos achieves this, not only will it be able to establish itself as a year-round tourist destination, but it will be able to be present in online markets during the key months of the year, when the final travel decisions are made, which is between January and March of each year,” Perdios said.

Asked about the profile of the average visitor, Perdios said that this is something that has started to change due to the pandemic.

According to the minister, even the British market, traditionally Cyprus’ strongest source of tourist inflows, saw a reduction of 10 per cent for the district of Paphos in 2022,

“Even before the pandemic and the war in Ukraine we expected that we would at some point see a reduction from the United Kingdom due to Brexit”, Perdios said, adding that this elevates the significance of targeting European Union markets, something which has begun to contribute to the further diversification of visitors in Paphos.

He also pointed out that many visitors from other EU markets have shown a tendency to rent cars in order to visit other areas such as Tellyria Tower and Polis Chrysochous, in turn stimulating economic activity in areas other than the one that they are staying in.

Perdios also explained that before the pandemic, Cyprus’ tourism sector relied on tour operators and chartered flights to the tune of 70 per cent of visitors, a percentage that has now fallen below 50 per cent.

“This means that the remaining 50 per cent of tourist arrivals concern individual travellers who actually come to discover the beauties of Cyprus, all of the regions, combined with other more niche forms of tourism,” Perdios said.

Moreover, the minister noted that through special forms of tourism, Cyprus and especially Paphos can attract younger tourists, adding that 25 and 30-year-olds generally desire activities that are related to nature.

Meanwhile, Paphos hoteliers association president (Pasyxe) Thanos Michaelides stated that they are very satisfied with the results, noting that this is the second year in which the district has tried to promote itself as a destination through modern digital marketing techniques.

“We hope that this effort will continue next year as well,” Michaelides said, expressing his satisfaction with the successful collaborative effort between the private and public sectors in Paphos.

“Our goal is not only to improve the flow of tourists to the Paphos district but also the quality of the tourist we welcome,” he added, explaining that the campaign’s key performance indicators have been steadily improving.

What is more, Paphos regional tourism board president Kyriakos Droushiotis said that this effort will continue until December in order to further help the district attract tourists during the winter period, which he expects to be somewhat tougher than last year.