But interestingly 30% of those polled also showed an interest in casinos. Although the survey revealed at first glance, that the tourists currently targeted by Cyprus do not represent what could be termed a target group for casinos, “a closer look at the findings shows that even from the existing tourist market, a significant 30% are interested in such initiatives.” “This means that from the existing 2.5 million tourists who visit the island each year, 750,000 could be considered as a target group for casinos,” it added. The cabinet recently gave the green light for the creation of a casino resort on the island.

PwC Cyprus worked with the PwC chair in Business Research at the University of Nicosia to carry out the survey ‘Cypriot Tourism: Opening the treasure box’. The survey aimed at identifying and recording the views and attitudes of the two main parties that shape the industry: tourists and local services providers. The results showed that 95.6% of tourists visiting Cyprus said sun and sea was the main factor in choosing their destination.

When it came to cultural tourism only one in two respondents, from the 58.6% who said cultural tourism was an important criterion for choosing Cyprus, had indeed gained experiences of cultural tourism. Religious tourism had helped increase arrivals from Russia, according to the survey due to the commonality of the Orthodox faith the two countries share. It also found that health and wellness tourism appeared to be more popular than sports, conference and agrotourism in Cyprus.

As regards to the promotion of tourist services, the survey identified considerable room for improvement. The main issue concerned the usage of one of the most efficient means for promotion and brand building of tourist destinations, which is the internet. “Despite the fact that almost one in three respondents states that the internet affects their tourism destination choice, the websites and social media accounts belonging to the tourism authorities in Cyprus do not seem to enjoy the desired traffic,” said the survey. Around 85% of those polled said that they did not visit the official website of the Cyprus Tourism Organisation, while 66.8% did not visit any official website.

According to Angelos Loizou, Partner in charge of Hospitality & Leisure Services at PwC Cyprus: “During 2013 and possibly 2014 the tourism sector as other sectors of the economy is expected to be adversely affected by the recent developments in Cyprus as well as by the downturn ofthe economy in Europe.” He said Cyprus needed to differentiate itself from neighbouring destinations. “To achieve this we need to focus on the promotion of Cyprus as a tourist destination, the improvement of the existing infrastructure and quality of services offered as well as on the utilisation of the internet and social media,” he added.

The survey is available on www.pwc.com.cy/cyprus-tourism-study.

Source: Cyprus Mail