The current situation
What needs to be done

The current situation

Tourism in Cyprus is in a dichotomous position: it is an economic necessity and an environmental disaster. Currently, we welcome something like 2 million visitors per year, which is about three times the resident population. A considerable part of these belong to the "sea, sun, sand, speed and sex" brigade, whose spending is not very high and who therefore relatively consume more resources than they give towards the economy. Unfortunately a rash of hotels in the Protaras, Ayia Napa, Limassol and Paphos regions have sprung up like mushrooms to cater for this sector. Many of the hotel owners believe that these are the goose that lays the golden eggs, not realising that they are, in fact, committing a long-term economic suicide.

A healthy tourism industry relies on a clientele that spends freely. Cyprus has the means to attract this kind of visitor, but he is currently revolted by the "slapper Napa" image, in the same way as Ibiza and Benedorm, so simply does not come. The question lies, then, in how to change the image from that of 2 million visitors spending, say, CYP 500 each (including the prepaid hotel accommodation), on an average, to half that number spending three times as much. This would benefit both the economy and the environment.

What needs to be done

This requires exploiting the country's assets, other than the beaches. There are three unique assets, cultural, natural and scenic (and I don't mean the beaches, which are, on the whole, fairly mediocre). These are attractive to a more intelligent segment of the population who are often in the richer slices of the population. These people do not have to take their holidays in July and August and, in fact, can come in late March to mid-May, when the country is at its finest - and the weather is better. Of course, many of the hotels are closed during this period.

The Cyprus Tourism Organisation (CTO) therefore needs to start promoting high class holidays for people who want to visit the archeological and historic sites, examine the unique biota of the Akamas and the Troodos Massif or "twitch" on the migration routes. For this, they should select the best hotels and make sure the visitors receive a top-class service. Restaurants catering for these visitors should not be of the "chips with everything" or the pseudo-taverna varieties, but gastronomic delights with good wines at prices commensurate with the quality, but not exaggerated. Above all, the services offered to these people must be excellent in quality, without inflated prices, such as are sometimes practised in some of the so-called "night clubs". These people are not interested in seeing how many glasses can be balanced on the head of costumed men prancing to the tune of canned music, although they may be interested in the real folklore.

Once this type of off-season tourism started to take off, then the CTO could start phasing down the cheapest, mass-tourism market, perhaps promoting only the better end of it. Yes, it would mean that the restaurants, bars and hotels catering for the lower end would have to offer better service, without fleecing the tourists with exaggerated prices, or close down. I don't pretend that this can be done overnight; it will probably take a decade to change the image of tourism.

So what would the benefits of such a change be? Obviously an improved economy, less liable to fluctuations as the economic conjuncture varies (the targetted tourists would be in more stable financial positions). If it were possible to halve the number of tourists, then the environmental effects would also be reduced, perhaps not by half but very substantially. Electricity consumption would drop. Above all, water consumption would be reduced, perhaps obviating the need for more desalination plants.

There would also be a price to pay by the ordinary population. This type of tourist would travel more around the country and he would not want to see litter by the roadsides or along the nature trails. He would probably be using better quality rental cars which would be clean and well maintained, but he would not want to be "burnt up" by every budding Schumacher disregarding all the rules of the road. In other words, the local population would have to learn to become as disciplined as the Northern European and not to treat tourists as milch cows.

Finally, let me come back to the question of food. The average quality of the meze, the souvlakia, the pastitsia, the moussaka and other traditional foods served in most restaurants is deplorable. I remember buying souvlakia made with succulent lamb, onions, peppers, and tomatoes, all grilled together on charcoal, in a tender pita envelope, from street vendors, for 4½ piastres in the 1950s. These were mouth-watering, compared with the fatty, tough, pork apologies that are served today, perhaps with a slice of raw tomato, some limp cucumber and a lettuce leaf. In those days, a ham or salami sandwich was made with real ham or salami and not the factory-made, water-soaked, tasteless rubbish that passes for them nowadays. Chicken even tasted like chicken, rather than an insipid, fibrous cardboard. Some Cyprus wine is excellent, most is mediocre, some is downright awful. Great strides have been made by some wine-growers and even some of the factories to produce better wine in recent years, but there is still room for considerable progress. Above all, much of the imported wine, especially the heavily promoted French wines from the Languedoc region, is utter rubbish that sells only on the snob appeal of being French. This "plonk" bears no comparison with a good Burgundy or Bordeaux (which are sold here at highly exaggerated prices) or even a good Cyprus wine. The "new" tourist that I would like to see in this country is not only a cultured nature-lover, he knows good food and wine that he takes pleasure in eating and drinking. He will not tolerate second-rate fare.

Will tourism survive peak oil?

This is a question that Cyprus has not addressed, as far as I'm aware. As a background, please read the essay on peak oil. Briefly, some time within the next few years, the global supply of oil will be insufficient to meet the demand. This means that the price will escalate and this will have severe repercussions on air travel and the economy, in general, will take a severe downturn. As far as I'm aware, no one has modelled the impact this will have on tourism on the island. My gut feeling is that mass-tourism, as we know it today, will disappear, or largely so. High-class tourism may survive but at a reduced rate. The important thing to note is that this will not be a small downwards blip that will disappear after a couple of years, but a permanent and increasingly severe downturn in the number of tourists visiting the island.

Conclusion

The tourist industry, as it is today, is not environmentally sustainable and must shrink to become so. In order to maintain the economy, this means that a different class of tourist must be attracted. Good, honest, service must be promoted, in preference to the exploitation of mass tourism, with a better spread of tourists throughout the year. Quality, rather than quantity, should be the keyword.

Further reading

Cyprus Tourism Organisation
Κυπριακού Οργανισμού Τουρισμού

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