Our View: Tourist industry only cares about numbers, never about quality

It was difficult to understand the indignant reaction of tourism stakeholders to a report that appeared in the UK’s Daily Express claiming there was panic in the sector because of a “huge drop” in bookings; the report also said the sector was facing losses of €30m.

The general manager of the Hoteliers Association (Pasyxe), Philokypros Roussounides, explained on Wednesday that the data cited by the Express was out of date and that the interview of the president of Pasyxe, who was quoted in the story, was from a while ago. Roussounides added that arrivals were at least year’s level. Hermes Airports also confirmed on Wednesday that there had been no drop in arrivals, compared to last year.

Why did tourism officials get in such a flap about the report? It did not say anything critical, offensive or defamatory about the tourism industry – nothing that could harm the sector in any way. All tourism destinations occasionally experience a downturn, which is nothing to cause embarrassment for a country or encourage tour operators to view it differently.

The knee-jerk reaction has more to do with the way tourism stakeholders and the authorities view tourism. For them it is all about the numbers, because despite the hollow talk about quality tourism it is quantity in which we have always been interested. As long as the authorities can say that arrivals are high, they can claim they have done a good job. But where does the hunt for higher numbers end?

Nobody considers that we have ruined our popular resorts with too much construction, turning them into concrete parks, with too many hotels, apartments, bars, cafes and clubs. We have been catering for mass tourism, but even this business model has its limits, as there comes a time when over-built resorts lose their appeal. Pursuing more visitors every year so that the new hotels, pubs and restaurants have business is not a sustainable economic model as it puts the country resources under tremendous strain and affects the local population.

Sicily, for example, which is suffering the effects of a drought, is being forced to turn away tourists because of major water shortages. Cyprus is also facing major water shortages, but it still wants as many visitors as possible arriving, because high numbers are all that matter.

High numbers do not necessarily mean the industry is doing well. The director of the Cyprus Tourism Enterprises (Stek), Chrysemili Psilogeni, said that despite an increase in arrivals this year, hotel bookings were down compared to last year. Arrivals were not the best indicator, she said, explaining that there was a decrease in the length of stay of tourists and spending per person.

In other words, more arrivals do not mean increased revenue, but it does mean added pressure on our limited resources. Nobody seems to care as long the arrivals keep rising.