Nuisance is a threat to tourism

Upgrading our hotels, restaurants, leisure centres, the quality of service and so on brings good results, but the cost is very high, especially for Cypriot budgets.

The two flagships of Greek tourism, Mykonos and Santorini, have surpassed us in demand in recent years, with the brand of fashionable and celebrity visitors.

However, the short-sighted treatment of local hotels and leisure centres and excessive charges have led to negative comments starting to appear in the international media about these two islands and by extension tourism in Greece.

The demolitions of illegal premises also began, with the beating of archaeologists who get in the way of illegal building, creating a completely negative image, resulting in a 30 per cent reduction in demand for hotels and 50 per cent reduction for villas.

According to media reports, tourists going to Greece have now moved to more affordable resorts, such as Paros, while others have abandoned Greece for Croatia, Albania and Turkey, whose coastal areas feature elements of Hellenism and excellent hospitality, at a much lower cost.

Here, in Cyprus, we have a problem with nuisance, especially in the Protaras and Ayia Napa area, and several reports of complaints have been published.

There was a complaint about a club that was initiated by the authorities and in three days it was issued a licence by the Deputy Ministry of Tourism, the municipality and other authorities, leaving people wondering what sort of contacts the venue has.

On July 1 at 9pm a tourist boat with its speakers blasting was making an excursion along the coast driving everyone crazy even at a distance of 1km. At first we thought of reporting it to the police, but nothing would be done!

The next night at 10pm a tourist yacht on which someone must have been celebrating their birthday or something, unleashed firecrackers accompanied by the sound of explosions for about 20 minutes. Our neighbours with two children began to worry and the young children started to cry.

We invited them to our nearby house and after providing them with toys for the children, they calmed down. The family from Ukraine explained to us that the children (and themselves) have trauma due to the Russian invasion. Again, where could we report this unacceptable behaviour? To the authorities of Paralimni? We would be wasting our time.

At the end of the day for Cyprus to be a popular tourist destination, tranquillity is necessary and all the nuisance will backfire on us.

What will the Deputy Minister of Tourism do, as, despite all his efforts and the announcements of new flight connections, at the end of the day we may not be taken seriously?

Antonis Loizou & Associates EPE – Real Estate Appraisers & Development Project Managers, www.aloizou.com.cy, [email protected]