For two years, Paphos District has been reeling from the impact of the economic melt-down which started to spread across the globe at the end of 2008.

With an economy heavily reliant on tourism and development which mushroomed on cash from the UK, statistics have repeatedly shown the area is the worst hit in Cyprus by the knock on effect of Britain`s struggling economy.

The Paphos Tourism Board has acted over the last few summers to mitigate the effects of a drop in British visitors. It has targeted new markets through regular promotion at tourism fairs, emphasised the need to develop specialist tourism and, most important of all, fought for direct flights serving the new local airport. But all the tourist and commercial bodies accept that they are playing a waiting game and reversing the down turn trend will be along and painstaking process.

There are some signs for the coming summer that efforts to develop new markets are paying off. But signs for the British market are not so clear and, with the cut in German flights, another steady market is stagnant.

“We can already see that there is definitely an increase in arrivals from Russia. Russian holiday makers are also in the habit of making of last minute bookings, much like the British market so we are expecting more,” Paphos Tourism Board Director, Nasos Hadjigeorgiou told . “But the arrival of Russians to Paphos is not large and the loss of the Eurocypria St. Petersburg route has not helped.”

Hadjigeorgiou says that the Dutch market has also shown signs of growing for the coming summer, but the German market has bottomed out owing to cuts in flights.

Local tourism bodies put part of the onus for this on the decision of ailing national carrier, Cyprus Airways, to cut all but three services from Paphos as part of restructuring measures.

George Leptos, President of the Paphos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (EVE) has accused Cyprus Airways of abandoning Paphos.

“Cyprus Airways pledged to meet with local tourism authorities to discuss how it will operate in Paphos,” Leptos told .” We told the company management to outline where the local flights have not been profitable  because, in some cases, we may be able to address this.”

Leptos said that the reduced number of services by the national carrier was frustrating considering that the German and Russian tourist markets are growing.

“There is a demand for local flights.  Cyprus Airways is a national carrier and Paphos residents pay taxes which contribute to state revenue. They have just abandoned the district.”

It isn`t just big players who have been affected by the cut in German flights, for instance. One small agrotourism outfit operating close to Polis told that, following a successful year in 2010, it had been dropped by its German tour operator in 2011 because of the lack of flights.

Cyprus Airways has responded to local anger about the cuts saying that no airline would cancel profit-making routes and it would reinstate services when economically feasible.

Hadjigeorgiou said that although about 60% of flights serving Paphos International Airport were from the UK, it was still too early to predict the behaviours of the British market this summer.

“The British market is still the key source of visitors to Paphos. We have a very good capacity for UK visitors with the increase in easyJet, Jet2.com and Monarch flights, but there is a trend for last minute bookings so we will have to wait and see.”

British Airways confirmed that it will recommence its suspended Gatwick service on June 3^rd with four weekly flights.

On a positive note, Greek company Kavaliero Travel and its Paphos handler, Oralia Travel and Tours, have launched 14 new services to Paphos largely for the over-55s market and are bringing in regular visitors.

Services connecting Paphos with Vienna, Athens, Madrid, Barcelona, Milan, Naples, Bergamo, Prague, Warsav, Poznan, and Katowice were launched in mid-March and Hadjigeorgiou says that the programme is successful.

With the drop in UK visitors over the last two years, the local tourism authorities have focused on attracting domestic tourism to the area over special holidays.

The district will be in the spotlight at the annual Taxidi tourism exhibition, which starts in Nicosia at the end of this month for five days.

This summer, the majority of hotels are expected to be in operation, Hadjigeorgiou added, with some reopening after winter renovations. While making efforts within its remit to develop local tourism, Hadjigeorgiou is frank about the problems Paphos faces.

“There is general feeling amongst tour operators that Paphos needs a little bit of refinement in terms of cleanliness and building works. The whole region needs to be tidied up and the tourist areas in particular need to be anhanced.”

In terms of ongoing sewage works along key arteries, these are only serious if they block access to beaches and hotels.

“We hope some of the works will be completed by the summer. There may be some ongoing minor works going on which shouldn`t be too disturbing.”

There is also room for improvement with specialist tours such as agrotourism, nature trails and cycling holidays, Hadjigeorgiou said.

But management at a Paphos hotel which spoke on condition of anonymity said that all-inclusive package tours, the thorn in the side of restaurateurs, were here to stay.

“For all the complaints in Cyprus about package tours, this product doesn`t originate locally. It is merely a response to a demand from UK tour operators.

“That is what their customers want. With most hotels having an average of 8 Euro m in loans to pay off, they give their customers what they want. To be honest, I don`t think that anyone cares anymore about going out and exploring the `real` Cyprus.”

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Businesses in Ayia Napa seem optimistic about the 2011 summer season. Several hotels are being renovated, new bars are opening and staff wanted signsare appearing.

Georgios Andreou, From the Napa Star Inn, is finding that they are busy, but are not seeing as many British customers as before.

He feels that the Russian tourists don`t go out to drink. Andreou also feels that the all inclusive holidays which Ayia Napa apartments are now also offering are affecting his trade. The Inn has reduced the prices of food and drink to encourage customers and Andreou is finding that they do return.

Andreou is also noticing a lack of Cypriot waiters in Napa and feels that the old style service is no longer offered.

Jack the Plumber (Vargas Koumi) works in many of the town`s hotels and apartments and the feedback he gets is that they are expecting business to be up 5-10% on 2010 as tourists come to Cyprus rather than holiday in troubled areas.

Bambos Charalambous, of Napa`s Golden Arrow Bar, reckons that, if the reservations and bookings already made are anything to go by, the town is going to be busy. There`s a general opinion that it will be busy with Russian tourists, however, not British. He has also noticed the difference that the increase in all-inclusive holidays is making to trade. Charalambous expects the season to be very good in June. His bar provides regular entertainment for its customers, but he feels that the municipality could offer more entertainment in the square for tourists.

John and Julie Carter, from the Pasty Mine, plan to “play it by ear”. Finding that a couple of busy days are followed by a couple of quiet days, they`re unclear which way the season will go and have dropped their prices, hoping to increase their turnover. They are not seeing many British tourists and feel that the CTO is not doing enough advertising to encourage them.

Expecting and influx of Russian tourists, they have now added signage in Russian to their shop. The Carters have spoken to several British tourists, who have regularly visited for the last five or six years and have found that many of them don`t plan to return as they find that Cyprus is now too expensive and they feel they are not getting value for money.

Jimmy Varnava, from the Sfinx in Protaras, is not very optimistic: he feels that the only tourists this year will be Scandinavias and Russians, pointing out that the Russians don`t spend money in pubs.

Mary Gaze from Go-Dive-Cyprus in Protaras is optimistic and says they are getting steady bookings, but she does feel that the all-inclusive holidays are discouraging people from going out and about. She thinks that they could have a very good year and offer a longer diving season if they had help to make the dive sites more accessible. At the moment there is only one dive site accessible to disabled people.

Gaze believes that the general state of the area doesn`t encourage tourists, commenting that they hadn`t seen a road sweeper for two years, that Paralimni Council don`t clean the area, and the CTO don`t do enough to help.

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Upgrades of the runways at both Larnaca and Paphos airports to the tune of over euro7 m are underway, airport operators Hermes Airports have announced.

According to Hermes Airports, almost every night over the last six months more than 100 workers, accompanied by diggers, trucks and other machinery have been working from midnight to 7am to further improve conditions at both airports.

Speaking to the press on Wednesday, Hermes Airports Spokesman Adamos Aspris said: “The first phase of upgrading the runways at both airports began on November 1, 2010 and was completed just a few days ago.”

Aspris continued that the upgrade work was expected to cost “over 7 Euro m “ and included the re-paving of part of the runways and taxiways at Larnaca Airport and the complete repaving of those in Paphos. New lighting is also being installed.

Aspris also said that new upgrades were planned “by the and of March 2012” including the widening of taxiways, the installation of new central lighting and the full renovation of runways lights.

“Through this work,” he continued, “Hermes Airports aims to strengthen safety levels at both the country`s airports, creating a better quality of runway and through the functioning of our own reliable lighting system and signa-ling, which will all comply with international regulations.”

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UK online travel agent On the Beach has named Larnaca as one of its best value destinations for the summer of 2011 along with Malta and Turkey.

It said a Larnaca holiday can be purchased through On the Beach for `significantly less` than last year.

According to the firm, the price variation can be attributed to the availability of deals and the value of flights and hotel packages.

“This year holidays to Larnaca are projected to be on average 26% cheaper per person than 2010, Malta trips will be available for 24% less, while Bodrum rounds out the top three with a 15% decrease in price,” said On the Beach.

Alistair Daly, Marketing Director of On the Beach said Larnaca offered “incredibly good value for money”.

This is down to cheap air flights and the availability of budget hotels.

“Based upon our analysis Larnaca, Malta and Bodrum are superb bargains this year and we strongly recommend that people looking to save some money highlight these places for their coming summer trips.”

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The Taxidi 2011 exhibition opens in Nicosia today, providing the perfect opportunity for visitors to find out more about where to spend their summer holidays.

The public will also be able to take advantage of special offers created as part of the exhibition.

The exhibition is organised every year by the Association of Cyprus Travel Agents (ACTA) in cooperation with Display Art Plc and this will be the 14^th event.

Tour operators, airline companies, national and local tourist organisations, district offices from Cyprus and Greece, Cyprus and international hotels, foreign countries and other travel and holiday related parties will be participating with their own stands.

According to the organisers, the Taxidi exhibition serves two purposes – it provides information to the travel public on available packages as well as assistance in exploring their options and, at the same time participants use the exhibition to learn about the public`s wishes and record travel trends to revise their packages accordingly and meet new needs and preferences.

Speaking to the press yesterday, ACTA Chairman Victor Mantovani said that although at 42 fewer exhibitors were taking part in this years event there had been no compromise on quality.

He also noted that 2010 had been a record year  with 1,246,373 trips being taken overseas by residents of Cyprus compared to 1,173,000 in 2009, showing an increase of 6.3%. The 2010 figures, of which 787,000 of the trips were for purely recreational purposes, were also an increase of 3% on the 2008 figures, Mantovani said.

“We also believe that the expected increase in incoming tourism will encourage more Cypriots to travel abroad this year, because not only will fewer beds be available for Cypriots here but the economy will benefit for the rise in tourism and people will have more money to go overseas,” Mantovani said. He also noted that people working in the tourism industry would also be more likely to take a trip overseas to recover from their busy season.

The ACTA Chairman revealed that Greece remained the favourite overseas destination for Cypriot holiday, makers with islands such as Crete and Rhodes as well as Mykonos, Santorini and Corfu. Mantovani also said that short trips to Athens – usually to catch a favourite singer`s performance at a nightclub – had shown a slight decrease.

He added that London remained another favourite destination for Cypriots with Paris also rating high, mostly because of visits to Euro Disney.

“We have begun a campaign to inform the public about the benefits of arranging their trips through licensed travel agencies belonging to ACTA,” Mantovani continued.

He also said that while better known websites through which travellers could arrange their holidays were usually safe, the public should always exercise caution. “Obviously if it is a large travel agency or an airline you are likely to be fine, but if you see one website advertising a hotel stay for 30 Euro a night when all the other sites set the price at 90 Euro or 100 Euro you are very likely to turn up at the hotel and find you have no booking at all,” he cautioned.

The Taxidi exhibition is taking place at the International State Fair grounds in Nicosia. It will be officially opened by Tourism Minister Antonis Paschalides at 4pm today and remain open until 10pm.

Tomorrow, Saturday, the exhibition will be open from 4 – 10pm and, on Sunday, from 2-10pm. There is a 5 Euro entrance fee for adults which includes a ruffle draw for prizes including flights and hotel stays. Children aged under 12 can visit the exhibition for free.

Visit www.taxidiexhibition.com for more information.

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