Statement by General Secretary of the C.C. of AKEL S.Stefanou after the meeting with the Deputy Minister of Tourism

 

28 March 2022, AKEL C.C. Press Office, Nicosia

We requested this meeting with the Deputy Minister of Tourism at the central offices of AKEL in order to discuss the issues that have affected tourism during these difficult times, not only for Cyprus and Europe, but also for the whole world, due to the war in Ukraine, which has exacerbated the situation with tourism even more after more than two years of the pandemic.

AKEL, wishing to be constructive and very specific in the assistance it can give, so that together we can all help so that Cyprus’ tourism industry, which is extremely important for the economy and society, can cope as much as possible with the great difficulties and problems that exist, held district meetings with stakeholders and involved parties in the Cyprus tourism industry.

We had discussions with them in the districts of Paphos, Limassol, Larnaca and the free areas of Famagusta. Together with our own thoughts and the proposals of these stakeholders, we have elaborated a Memorandum, which I have delivered to the Deputy Minister containing specific proposals and thoughts, with the aim of making our own contribution too in the efforts to address these difficulties.

AKEL’s proposal includes four main axes and has to do, first and foremost, with the need to call on Cyprus’ partners in the EU for practical solidarity to be extended in order to support our country’s tourism sector, which is also affected by the decisions that have been taken for sanctions from which Cyprus is objectively affected negatively. For that reason, the government must demand from the Europeans practical assistance so that Cyprus can confront the difficulties.

The second axis has to do with strengthening existing markets and finding new markets, so that we can attract tourists, that will partly make up for the losses we will suffer from tourism from Russia and Ukraine. Within this framework, discussions have been held with the Deputy Minister and specific actions are already being taken which we hope will yield results.

The third axis has to do with the promotion of domestic tourism, for which we have once again put forward and handed a specific proposal to the Deputy Minister, based on the experience we have gained from previous years and more specifically from last year, when domestic tourism helped immensely in relation to the problems caused by the pandemic and the various lock downs.  AKEL believes that it can provide important solutions today too and provide significant breathing space for the tourism industry.  I believe that the Deputy Ministry will examine the proposal we have put forward carefully and we are at its disposal to discuss it with them.

The fourth axis has to do with providing support to workers and businesses.  Based on our experience as a state with the lock downs in the pandemic, it is obvious that after the two years of the pandemic and the third year with the difficult situation created by the war in Ukraine and the sanctions imposed, we need to study how we support working people and businesses to enable them to cope with the difficulties.

Based on the above, it was a very, very constructive meeting with the Deputy Minister for Tourism Mr. Perdios.  I thank him very much.  We exchanged views. He is at our disposal and we are at his disposal for any further discussion. As I have said, our goal in this difficult situation that the country is going through is to help according to our own strengths and capabilities so that difficulties can be overcome.