Cyprus-Forum.com

[cameron_roxburgh]

CYPRUS MAIL

Sunday, February 11, 2007

Cyprus hoteliers warned that seat only flights will contribute to their demise

BRITISH tour operators are warning that low-cost carriers to Cyprus will decimate the hotel industry and boost tourism to the north.

Three low-cost British airlines, Monarch, Flyglobespan and XL, plan to start operations this year between Cyprus and the UK following an increased demand for cheap flights.

Tourism Minister Antonis Michaelides has welcomed the move and indirectly berated hoteliers for painting a negative picture of tourism given that numbers were only slightly down last year while revenue was up.

However British tour operators, whose business is also affected by low-cost carriers as seat-only flights render package holidays a thing of the past, are joining the doom and gloom chorus.

“The common idea in Cyprus is that low-cost airlines will be a saviour when in fact they will desecrate the hotel industry and boom property alternatives,” Thomson Holidays representative Geoffrey Bezina warned Cypriot hoteliers at a conference in Nicosia.

“Low cost carriers are a threat to tourism everywhere,” said Angela Mazzey the overseas purchasing manager for First Choice. “From a tourism operators’ point of view we cannot compete.”

Noel Josephides, the president of the UK-based Association of Greek Cypriot Travel Agents (AGTA) went a step further, saying that more and more Turkish Cypriot travel agents, under pressure to boost numbers to the north, were using Larnaca as a more convenient and direct entry point to the island.

He said out of last year’s 2.4 million tourist arrivals to Cyprus, 34,000 went to stay in hotels in the north. This figure could rise to 100,000 this year, he said as the number of low-cost flights increases.

“This is going to be a growing trend,” said Josephides.

More worrying however was the decline in bookings for actual package holidays to Cyprus, which are the bread and butter of tour operators and hoteliers.

Josephides said that in 2000 his own company Sunvil was booking over 4,400 packages to Cyprus. Last year numbers fell to 1,405, and bookings for this year so far numbered only 382, some 20 per cent down for this time of year. Other Cypriot specialists were as much as 40 per cent down.
“Not a single operator for Cyprus is particularly optimistic,” said Josephides.

“We are seeing an enormous increase in demand for flights only while we are selling packages at ridiculous prices. Expats want cheap flights to Cyprus. There is no shortage of seats and as more flights come in, tour operators will cut back on their programmes to Cyprus and that will be a problem. The advantage of a tour operator is that he force feeds clients to your properties. No seat-only operation will ever do that,” he warned the hoteliers.

Josephides said low-cost carriers were also not necessarily cheaper.
“Everyone likes to knock Cyprus Airways but the reality at the moment is that it’s just as cheap as the others,” he said.

He said Monarch fares for August were the same as Cyprus Airways, while Flyglobespan were some £20 cheaper for the same month. He also said people should bear in mind that Cyprus Airways travels to Heathrow while the others did not.

Josephides also said tourism authorities needed to stop website advertising by people who own properties in Cyprus. “Approximately 20,000 British citizens own homes in the south. Their own visits and those of their friends and relatives to stay in their properties are destroying hotel occupancy rates.”

He said the Cyprus Tourism Organisation (CTO) must have the power and resources to tax individuals marketing their properties on the web and enforce minimum standards and heavy fines if these individuals were operating without a licence.

“Tour operators just cannot compete any more, and this is affecting hotel occupancy, and it will continue. This is not the same Cyprus it was 15 or 20 years ago. The fact is some of us will go out of business and tour operators will no longer be a force in expanding tourism to Cyprus.”



Copyright © Cyprus Mail 2007

[Eliko]

I think a little re-structuring of the package holiday operators is long overdue, cheaper flights might encourage them to be more considerate to their clients and reduce the number of complaints they receive annually.
Some of the horror stories we read of each year bear testimony to the fact that there is a great deal of room for improvement, the advent of cheaper fares may well be the very tool needed to improve standards of service.

I know of many people, most of whom have young children, that have suffered quite alarmingly because of the lack of attention they were promised initially, often finding themselves accommodated in 'alternative' hotels and apartments due to the over-booking techniques of travel agents.

Perhaps cheaper flights WILL present problems to the hoteliers and agents, the holiday-maker may even be able to secure a better deal by contacting the provider of accommodation direct, resulting in an improvement all round.

[THE HIGHLANDER]

Cheap flights just cant come quick enough for me i'm affraid,its about time Brittish Airways,Thomsons and First choice etc had a bit of copetition to force them to bring their prices down,incidently it was the Cyprus minister for tourism Antonis Michaelides who actualy made a point of traveling to you UK personaly to negotiate deals to bring Easyjet,Flyglobspan,Monarch,Midland etc to the island because Thompsons etc had the monopoly and were running the show and increasing prices anualy and ripping of people like me that didnt want a package holiday but would like to travel on business etc back to uk now and again, but was faced with prices for flights so ridiculous i was cheaper buying a package holiday to save money !!!!,i know for a fact Easyjet and Globspan have negciated with hotel owners for priority accomadation to allow them to offer very reasonible package holidays,the problem with Thomsons is they have masive shares in the ownership of many of the hotels on the island, in fact more than 40 in all between them and firstchoice etc,let me put it in laymans terms how many luxury coaches do you think Thomsons owns and has stationed on the island? Answer : count all your fingers and toes and keep going,can everyone now start to see the real picture now !!!

[simonwjones]

I dont understand how cheap flights will kill tourism. If with more low cost flights being available more people will want to visit, surely? Lets face it Cyprus Airways are expensive and package holidays to Cyprus are expensive also and its about time the like of First Choice were to look at their prices and reduce their profits. They wouldnt lose anyway, with their buying power they could negotiate with airlines. I say bring it on.

Another fact, there is alot more to do in ROC than the area up north. If people want to go up there then you really cant stop them. If people want to visit Cyprus they will, as the North doesnt have the Cypriot does it.

British Airways are doing some cracking deals at the moment

[gerry culbert]

when will easyjet be flying to cyprus and from where

[Eliko]

A hearty welcome to the forum gerry culbert, good luck with your request, no idea mate !.

[simonwjones]

when will easyjet be flying to cyprus and from where

they probably wont pal!!!

[RichardB]

An excellent post by highlander.....

Not everyone coming to Cyprus is a tourist. I too travel regulary on business and to visit family.

Not everyone needs a full package.

I too have been in the ridiculous scenario wher I've had to book a full package because it was cheaper than getting a flight only and then not bother using the accommadation or transfers etc

[Sunshine01]

I would welcome cheaper flights to Cyprus.............I'm visiting Cyprus for the first time in May with my family, we are flying with Cyprus Airways and staying in a villa because a) we couldn't afford a package deal (it was about £1000 more for a package deal with bed and breakfast for 7 of us!) and b) most package deals seems to fly Sundays and Wednesdays and we wanted to fly on a Saturday and return 9 days later. I'm sure it would encourage more families to visit Cyprus if there were cheap flights.

[simonwjones]

Well i have booked a return flight in the middle of june for £179 from manchester to paphos with british airways - to be able to do this is very good. The price is also very good. Please tell me why this type of flight is going to kill off tourism.