Coronavirus: Apprehensive tourism sector requires clear technique from authorities

Travel agents said Wednesday they sounded the alarm as the tourist outlook remained suspended while Cyprus has not yet developed a strategy to deal with the uncertainties that could result from inconsistencies in handling vaccinations and testing.

The President of the Association of Cyprus Travel Agencies (Acta) Vasilis Stamataris urged the government to cooperate immediately. He told a press conference that tourism needs to be restarted one way or another rather than the industry “sitting on its laurels” waiting to see what will happen.

Most of the uncertainty arises from the situation in the UK. The government there has not made a decision to allow vacations after May 17th after May 17th. Speculation suggests that the foreign ban could be extended until the end of June as there are no firm signs by April 5.

Amid all the travel turmoil, an optimistic Ryanair announced a total of 34 routes from Paphos this summer, citing the vaccine launch on Wednesday, including five new destinations, mostly in Italy.

“Although we start in April, no one knows exactly how the trips will take place this year, how tourists will come to Cyprus and how the tourist season will develop in general,” said Acta’s Stamataris.

He said the tourism sector cannot be based solely on vaccinations as they alone may not create the necessary “critical mass” that would allow the industry to operate normally.

“We are a breath away from the upcoming tourist season and the lack of a management protocol for vaccinated individuals upon arrival remains a significant loophole that should be addressed immediately,” said Stamataris.

“We cannot wait for the European ‘green certificate’ because on the one hand it can be delayed and on the other hand the conditions that regulate it may not be satisfactory. Several European countries are promoting their own policies and applications. Cyprus must do the same, ”he added.

He cited EU figures that show that 54 percent of Europeans want to travel before the end of July 2021, 41 percent want to travel to another European country, 69 percent feel safer traveling to a country with strict health criteria, and 21 percent say they expect health protocols to affect their travel experience.

Stamataris said other countries had already “feverishly” prepared by putting in place strategies for basic health rules and taking various other initiatives without waiting around.

“We need to do the same to make sure we can take advantage of any prospect for this year, whatever it is. We cannot and should not rest on our laurels, ”he said. “Acta sounds the alarm and asks everyone to take the opportunity. We need a specific strategy with planning and attention to detail in order to successfully master this year’s challenges. “

Although Stamataris said Acta recognizes the fact that the relevant ministries and agencies have made and continue to make tremendous efforts, Acta believes the government should embrace more proposals from the industry.

In this regard, the association has made a number of proposals that it believes will help move things forward.

This includes a proposal to map the counties of Cyprus based on their epidemiological data. “We should do what is necessary to protect the resorts from a potentially bad epidemiological picture in other areas,” said the Acta boss.

He also said that workers in the tourism industry will be vaccinated after those of vulnerable groups and that some countries have already announced the measure. Other business associations on the island have suggested the same thing.

When testing, he said that in the event of arrivals from “red countries” who are required to perform a negative PCR test, Stamataris said that another PCR test on landing should be replaced by a rapid antigen test, which the state charges is because they are much cheaper than PCR and take less time to complete.

“There is a risk that a large number of tourists will be lost. These people will come in with a negative PCR test that is less than 72 hours old and then have – at best – a delay of three hours before receiving theirs [PCR] Results, ”he said. This means that many will already be at their hotels, in most cases by bus.

“A possible positive case will complicate things for other travelers who may miss their vacation because they are seen as a contact,” he added.

Once a tourist has successfully met the specified criteria, there should be no further restrictions.

Acta also wants the government to extend an extraordinary law from 2020 that would allow them to offer coupons instead of refunds due to the ongoing uncertainty. “The extension of government guarantees will further protect consumers who may not be able to travel soon,” said Stamataris.

The club was heavily criticized at the time by those who did not want a voucher and would have preferred a refund.

Acta also wants help from the government, which it believes will help the industry survive by lowering VAT for travel agents and other tourism operators from 19 percent to 9 percent by the end of 2022, as well as government guarantees on low-interest loans that do so many travel agencies are considered SMEs.

According to Stamataris, the government had to assess competitiveness in the Covid era as the cost of implementing health protocols was higher “to put Cyprus in an extremely adverse position at this very difficult time”.

“As we all know, the competitiveness of Cypriot tourism has suffered from high operating costs for years,” he said. “At this critical stage, we have to be very careful and avoid adding to these costs by making decisions that unfortunately, in some cases, bring more costs than benefits.”