You need a thief to catch a thief

It is not an overstatement to say that the Cypriot economy depends to a large extent on the success or otherwise of the tourist industry.

We witnessed the last Troika and IMF visits to Cyprus who discussed the state of the tourist industry and other matters. Those involved directly with the industry, i.e. hoteliers, the Deputy Ministry of Tourism and others, say that they cannot cut costs since the electricity and labour cost is more than three times than our competitors such as Egypt, Turkey and even Greece.

If we are restrict the argument to the electricity cost, then yes, this is a problem, one of the highest in Europe, but it could go down through the use of solar energy (it requires added investment), whereas staff cost is also somehow retained, thanks partly to the presence of foreign workers in the hotels. However, the latter do not offer a good service and are blamed for taking jobs away from the locals. Then again, waiters arriving from Greece are far ahead in their approach having a unique behaviour, an example being adverts placed in Austria seeking waiters “preferable Greek”.

The tourist product is not only what the hotel charges.

Traveling cost – Now that the exgovernment owned Cyprus Airways has closed down and replaced by a private operator, we expect to have cheaper flights, more connections and a better service.

Once arriving at the airport tourists must then address the taxi drivers’ mafia outside the airports. It may cost you EUR 80/p.p. to come from Greece and EUR 50-100/for a taxi to go to Paphos EUR 30-50 to Ayia Napa, etc. In London a taxi from the airport to the center does not cost more than half of that and in Greece it is a third of our local cost.

It is unacceptable to charge a bottle of water at 50c or one euro, whereas in other countries it is half that or even a third for the same size bottle.

Why charge tourist for cigarettes almost 50% more than what we sell to locals? I should tell you about our own experience at Ayia Napa, where we asked for a packet of Rothmans at a kiosk with an ordinary sales price cost EUR 4.50 charged at EUR 6.00 each. I complained and the kiosk manager told us, “I thought you are a tourist”.

We have filed numerous complaints either directly or through this lovely paper, to the tourism ministry and the government, but it seems that they do not want to hear, hiding behind the excuse that “it is a free market, and we cannot intervene”. Yet a recent report in Greece about a restaurant which was overcharging, was on the main news on TV for two, with a closure order to follow for two weeks for overcharging.

I have no special sympathy for those who complain that the cost of tourism in Cyprus cannot go down. We should at least offer a better service, less daylight robbery (remember the case of charging EUR 2.0 for a lemon in a restaurant in Paphos, and the beating of Australian tourists by Ayia Napa taxi drivers – both recorded on the internet).

Regrettably, we have the main driver of the Cyprus tourist industry, the tourism deputy ministry, which seems to be in an endless hybernation with its staff mainly interested in fat salaries, jobs for the boys, etc. A lot of talk and no action. I hope that with the new regime things will improve, whereas following the Greek example with “planted” spies to check on charges and quality is probably the best, but is blocked by the House.

Do you also remember the bus service between Ayia Napa – Paralimni at a cost of EUR 2.00/each, yet a taxi charges EUR 8-10 for the same route. End result (and under political pressure by the corrupt local political parties), late bus hours were reduced, resulting in a higher cost tourist service.

What can I say about another mafiacontrolled group, those of the operators of the water sports who claim that no tenders should be issued because only they are the ones who know the local conditions better, the sea currents, etc. We even had some MPs who support these ridiculous claims, to which the Troika experts asked, “how much muscle do these people have?”

So, when (or if) the Troika comes back, we should give them a peace of our mind in an effort to help the industry and by projection our own business, real estate. Who advises the Troika and where do they get information from? Perhaps it is those who stand to benefit and not us, businesses and taxpayers, who are subsidising the industry. Another example is the monopoly for beach beds and as an example, after investigation in Paralimni, it appeared that those involved were making EUR 400,000 a year, in addition to being paid staff at the municipality.

So, we have a higher cost tourist service. And, what is the solution?

I cannot profess to being an expert on this, but we witness every day the bad management of the tourist industry and the economy in general.

My suggestions are:

A website by the consumers association or the tourism deputy ministry and all those who want to register on the “visitors directory” should pay a fee of say EUR 20 p.a., advertising their product and rates, giving full name, addresses etc. Charges should be subject to approval by the ministry or other bodies such as the Chamber of Commerce.

The local municipalities to place adds on the roads regarding basic consumer products and restaurant prices, e.g. cigarettes, coffee, bottled water, wines etc.

To name and shame in the local press with collaboration of the tour operators those who are overcharging. A capitalist system is not a free for all tolerating thieves.

It is competition relating to service and a reasonable profit.

The directory to be checked by the deputy ministry, who must also have the legal power to shut down some of these operators.

To set up a private company with governmental participation together with foreign tour operators and local investors in order to replace the deputy ministry on such matters. The scope of the company would be to increase the island’s tourist numbers and the performance of the industry. The company to get a success fee based on performance subject to minimum results.

So , let us not day dream, there is a government consumer protection service which is not as active as we would have liked it to be.

I am very upset from the whole situation since tourism is the pillar of the Cyprus economy. Tourists are the foundation of the future property buyers and if they are happy with their holiday experiences, then sales of real estate will follow.

We have all the prerequisites to do better, yet we lack the courage and the “koumbaros” network to hold us back, as well as the neverending political parties’ involvement, the illegal actions by certain municipalities, and so on.