Cyprus tourism stakeholders call for improved connectivity, winter season incentives

The government should be looking into ways of tackling the longstanding issue of seasonality in the tourism industry, as well as improving connectivity to the island, according to a survey conducted by the Cyprus Incentives & Meetings Associates (CIMA).

During the summer, CIMA engaged 21 out of its 27 members, comprising a diverse mix of destination management companies (DMCs) and hotels, in a comprehensive assessment of the industry’s current landscape.

This exclusive study provides a unique and invaluable insight into the challenges, opportunities, and emerging trends that are shaping the Cyprus meetings and incentives sector.

The first thing that’s worth noting is that the majority of respondents (61.9 per cent) said that they are positive about the prospects of the MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) sub-segment of the tourism sector in Cyprus for both 2023 and 2024, while the remaining 38.1 per cent said that they have a neutral outlook.

“Along with the majority of colleagues in the industry, I share the view that the future of the MICE sector in Cyprus is positive, as reflected in the success of the recent M&I Forum, which drew considerable interest from a large number of foreign delegates,” outgoing CIMA president and Drakos DMC director Orestis Aristides told the Cyprus Mail.

In terms of which should be the primary markets that Cyprus should target going forward, a hotly debated topic among tourism stakeholders, 57.1 per cent selected Germany, closely followed by France with 52.4 per cent.

Switzerland, Austria, the United Kingdom and Ireland were tied with 38.1 per cent, while Poland and Scandinavia were selected by 33.3 per cent and 28.1 per cent of respondents respectively.

Outside of Europe, Israel was picked by 42.9 per cent of respondents (note: the survey took place before the recent conflict in Israel), followed by Saudi Arabia, Oman and Qatar with 42.9 per cent, and the UAE with 38.1 per cent. It should be noted that participants were allowed to pick more than one choice here.

Regarding the main challenges that Cyprus’ tourism sector is facing today, connectivity (81 per cent), competition from other destinations (66.7 per cent) and the island’s historical focus on a limited number of major markets (47.6 per cent), such as the UK and, until recently, Russia, were the leading causes of concern.

Additionally, the difficulty in finding the necessary number of staff (38.1 per cent) and challenges pertaining to marketing and sales activities (33.3 per cent) were also highlighted by respondents.

Asked what measures they would implement in order for Cyprus to tackle the issue of seasonality, the majority of participants (90.5 per cent) said that the government should increase its marketing efforts to showcase the island as a conference, exhibition, sports and special interest destination.

In addition, 71.4 per cent said that the government should be incentivising airlines to offer a steady, regular flight schedule during the winter season, while 57.1 per cent called for additional focus on promoting Cyprus as a winter destination.

Rounding up the top six, participants asked for special incentives to encourage hotels to stay open during the winter, the implementation of certain schemes to facilitate major events during the off-season, as well as other various incentives for special groups who primarily operate during the winter, including conferences and niche sports.

In terms of connectivity, 90.5 per cent of respondents said that they consider it a very important issue, while a similarly high share of respondents (95.3 per cent) consider the current levels of connectivity to and from Cyprus to be less than adequate.

“Some of the major challenges identified by the survey are connectivity and seasonality. In this context, I believe that the Deputy Ministry of Tourism and the Transport Ministry should work together to provide incentives that seek to increase flights during the winter season,” Aristides said.

“At the same time, Cyprus should ramp up its marketing efforts to showcase the island as a high-quality year-round destination that can fully meet the needs of conference tourism, which primarily operates between the Autumn and the Spring,” the outgoing CIMA president concluded.