The Curse of All-Inclusive
Writer: Janice Ruffle
Rather than concentrate on visitors who are interested in the Agrotourist
aspect of the regions, the hoteliers in the mid 90′s made the decision to
attract lower class all-inclusive tourism. The last twenty years has
seen a slow rise in all-inclusive hotel packages in Cyprus, resulting in
a downfall in quality tourism. All-inclusive deals were popularised by
the rise of the package holiday in the 1970’s. The demand of all-inclusive has
seen an overall 32 per cent increase over five years, with most Tour
Operators selling 65 per cent as all-inclusive.
In May 2012, ‘First Choice holidays’
introduced all holidays booked to the island will include flights, transfers,
hotel accommodation and three meals a day, plus unlimited local drinks for a
single one-off fee. The decision of Tour Operators to axe traditional package
holidays to sell all-inclusive vacations to Cyprus has resulted in wide-ranging
implications for local traders.
Lakis Avraamides, Director of the Regional Tourism Board was reported to
say that all-inclusive was not a good decision. It is a trend, which people
seem to want, but it will definitely affect the market and will be a
setback for all destinations. The British in particular, are more
price conscious and all-inclusive provides economic security to visitors,
especially families.
Julia Osovskaya, resident in Russia who travels to Cyprus regularly
says, “Cyprus is fast becoming an even more popular holiday destination for
Russian tourists and demand for all-inclusive is on the rise. She adds
to this statement by further saying that, “it’s possible that Russians who
travel to Egypt and Turkey, being the most popular destinations from Russia due
to good value for money, are searching for new affordable destinations, like Cyprus.
Russians who travel to Egypt and Turkey are familiar with the all-inclusive
system and it is what they will expect to see when they travel to Cyprus.’
Osovskaya believes that “Cyprus is becoming more
popular to Russian visitors due to the ease of formalities with visas, which
are free to Russians and easy to obtain. Coupled with affordable
all-inclusive, Russians are attracted to Cyprus as an alternative holiday
destination.”
Commercial Director Julia Tugolukova of Biblio Globus, one of Russia’s
three main tour operators, conveyed a message at the 35th CHA – Cyprus Hotel
Association conference in Nicosia, that Cyprus must develop major entertainment
projects and exploit natural resources to attract Russian tourists. Biblio
Globus plans to bring 350,000 Russian tourists to Cyprus in 2013, operating
75 flights a week, shared equally with Paphos and Larnaca.
Russians are attracted to Cyprus by the amazing nature, olive and orange
groves, beautiful landscape and sea. Generally, all-inclusive is not their
priority, although value for money is. Even the
Troika refers to tourism as a significant export sector of the
highest importance for the additional domestic value and the creation of
new jobs, with positive spin-off activities.
Ghost Towns
All-inclusive holiday makers do not tend to wander from their hotels and
discover the real Cyprus, which is not encouraging for the local economy.
To support local dying trade, Tour Operators should
take some responsibility to encourage all-inclusive tourists to
go on local excursions to experience the traditions and authentic cuisine of a
country. Local business owners claim that such deals kill their trade
because all-inclusive tourists rarely venture out of
their hotel complexes. Restaurant and bar owners in Paphos, Protaras
and Ayia Napa have continuously complained that all-inclusive tourists add absolutely nothing to the local economy. Tourism
officials across Europe have complained that all-inclusive deals have resulted
in local bars, restaurants and shops closing.
Lakis Georgiou owner of Moonlight Restaurant in Ayia Napa says,
“All-inclusive is seriously affecting our trade.” He further stated that he was
very concerned about the future economy for local trade.
Elena Savvides-Doghman of Orexi Catering Services says, “An attempt to
become a world leader in mass tourism by
encouraging all-inclusive in Cyprus, has resulted in this beautiful island
becoming a byword for a shabby ghetto of neon and
peeling concrete with local restaurants, tavernas and shops closing.”
The average all-inclusive holidaymaker prefers to stay in the hotel
exploiting the concept of drinking and eating all
day, rather than venture out to experience authentic Cyprus.
All-inclusive appeals to families, who can exploit the constant flow of
food, drink and snacks all day long, with the comfort of knowing there will be
no extra charge at the end of their stay.
The question is, is the idea of eat and drink all you like for one price exploited?
The question is, is the idea of eat and drink all you like for one price exploited?
“What began as a way of attracting more tourists to an island which was
packed to the hilt every summer with holiday makers, mainly from Britain, has
resulted in a bacchanalian orgy of disrespect,” says
Savvides-Doghman.
Quality Destination Destroyed.
Cyprus has lost all respect as a quality destination. No longer does Cyprus
attract the hardy country lover, who came to Cyprus for the spring and autumn
hiking, bird watching and the adventures to see the natural beauty of the
protected Akamas. Where are the folk that got excited about visiting the
mosaics and ancient monuments?
In the 80′s and 90′s you would meet all sorts of interesting travellers,
supporting local businesses and restaurants and venturing out of their way to
visit local village tavernas, serving authentic Cypriot food. They were
genuinely interested in the charm and natural delights of Cyprus. “All inclusive is simply no good for
Cyprus rural tourism” says Sofonios Potamitis, Managing Director of Cyprus
Villages. “We do get support from the CTO – Cyprus Tourism Organisation as we
host journalists, travel agents and educational groups in an effort to promote
‘Cyprus Villages’. He concludes by saying that “the CTO must change direction,
as far as promoting Cyprus as an all inclusive destination and revert back to
promoting Cyprus, as a rural destination.”
“To my knowledge, all-inclusive was originally
introduced for destinations that visitors were not allowed to leave the resort,
mainly due to health and safety reasons,” says restaurant and hotel
owner Stavros Pantelides. “The large
travel agents decided to exploit the concept of all-inclusive to maximise on
their profits. Travel agents have the travellers’ money at least six
weeks prior to the holiday. Previously the policy was for the travel agents and
hoteliers to have the share of the flight and accommodation and for the local
restaurants, bars and shops to have the spending money from visitors. With all-inclusive, the travel agent receives all.”
“Travel agents paying hotels on average two months after the visitor departs has caused a
further blow to the industry’s survival. Often too,
travel agents register complaints to delay payment and some have been
known to close their company and open another one leaving a substantial debt to
hotel owners who are obligated to pay the costs and taxes.”
“Unfortunetely, Cyprus now attracts an all-inclusive tourist who are
interested in a cheap deal. The little shops, tavernas, restaurants and all
the other attractions Cyprus created to attract quality and cultural tourism,
are closing due to all-inclusive. So who is loosing?
First of all the all-inclusive visitors as they get cheap food and drink and
poor service and do not experience real Cyprus. Then the owners of
small businesses who serve the tourist trade and on a corporate level, the
hotel owners who suffer from a cash flow crisis due
to travel agents not paying promptly, if at all.”
When Pantelides was asked if he would change his hotel to all-inclusive, he
instinctively declined. He is adamant that if hotel
owners join forces and agree not to go all-inclusive, the industry will revive.
“Most hotel owners accept all-inclusive demands from travel agents because
they have no option. We are killing our industry and
country as we rely on tourism and agents to promote Cyprus. Agents are only
keen on profits, if Cyprus did stop all-inclusive, they would move on to
the next country.”
“We have a beautiful Island, sun, beautiful coastal views, great
hospitality and low crime rate which is unique to other countries. Service
and hospitality marked Cyprus as one of the best holiday destinations for
years and now with the rapid growth of all-inclusive this theory is on the
demise,” he clearly states.
Tourism Strategic Plan 2011-2015
On the basis of the results of the Passengers Survey, arrivals of tourists
reached 54,772 in December 2012, compared to 65,339 in December 2011, thus
recording a decrease of 16.2%. A decrease of 20.0% was recorded in tourist
arrivals from the United Kingdom (16,847 in December 2012 compared to 21,054 in
December 2011) and 11.1% decrease from Greece (9,050 compared to 10,182 last
year). An Increase of 1.4% in tourist arrivals was recorded from Russia.
“In an era of doom and gloom in Cyprus, it is encouraging to hear that
Cyprus is expected to attract an increased number of tourist arrivals in
2013”, Minister Efthymios Flourenzou stated.
The newly established direct flights between
Cyprus and Ukraine, as well as bookings made so far from Russia and
Britain, justify his optimism.
The CTO – Cyprus Tourism Organisation, is currently implementing the
Tourism Strategic Plan for the years 2011-2015, which focuses on several areas
of product development, marketing, services and quality in all links of the
tourist value chain aiming to provide an enriched, multi-dimensional holiday
experience. The plan incorporates proposals, which aim at expanding and
improving the operating period and occupancy rates of licensed hotels and
tourist accommodation establishments, improving competitiveness of the tourist
industry of Cyprus.
High on the agenda is upgrading the appearance of the built environment in the
tourist areas, particularly as regards crucial aspects such as
cleanliness and the enhancement and upgrading of the environment.
Plans are in place to promote professionalism among tourist service providers
and to cultivate and promote awareness of the importance of tourism and
hospitality among the Cypriot population as a whole. The CTO claim to
putting continuous and hard effort in order to successfully implement their
strategy’s analytical action plans.
However, it is a fact that the current economic situation, the financial
tightening and the serious cuts in their budget, have resulted in reduced
promotional and advertising presence in markets, as well as a
postponement or reduction in magnitude of specific strategic actions.
Marios Hannides, Director General of the CTO says,
‘It is logical that in times of reduced disposable income, all-inclusive
holidays appear as an economically attractive and enticing option that
suits price conscious people, who want to know in advance the total cost
of their vacation, even before they book their trip. The all-inclusive trend
is accordingly increasing worldwide and it is expected to continue
to do so. In this respect, hoteliers are urged to
comply with the relevant demands of the Tour Operators, as the latter are
driven by market demand.”
Hannides expresses that it is a fact that local businesses surrounding
the hotels are negatively affected and that there is a dilution of
positive effects of tourism on the local economies.
He continues to say that “it is also true that the all-inclusive concept is not compatible with a strategic
vision that calls for people to get out of the hotel and experience the multidimensionality
and the great variety that Cyprus offers, experience the local
culture and get in touch with the local people.” He further accounts
for the adoption of the all-inclusive concept as a matter of business
decision-making and states that if not offered by hotels in a destination,
hotels in competing ones will do so.
“On our part, we will continue to consistently improve our tourist product and therefore give solid reasons and strong motives to visitors to get out of the hotels and put more effort to ensure high and consistent levels of quality in the hotels that offer all-inclusive,” Hannides concludes.
Hoteliers Association Support
Zacharias Ioannides Director General Cyprus Hotel Association says,
“Our responsibility to our members is to promote and develop tourism
collaborating with our partners abroad. Our objective is to meet the
requirements of tourists to ensure their satisfaction. We have observed the
current trend is the attraction for all inclusive hotel holidays which creates
a higher segment growth, meeting with specific requirements for the
hotels and tourists.” He explained that packages of this nature provide the
average tourist with the comfort of budgeting, especially for family holidays.
Ioannides admits that here has been a negative effect on local
restaurants and retail outlets and that the Association needs to
therefore encourage hotels to promote excursions to Cypriot villages, for
guests to become acquainted with the beautiful Cypriot culture and lifestyle.
Whilst the budget holidaymaker capitalises on all-inclusive, it’s
impossible for the concept of the all-inclusive hotels to survive. Competing on
the cost of hotel accommodation by attracting a low budget holidaymaker,
results in an average allocation of 3 Euros a day per person for the supply
of all food and beverages. The outcome of this will cause a serious
economical low for the hotel industry, creating employment cuts or lowering the
quality of hospitality staff in favour of cheap labour.
Δεν υπάρχουν σχόλια :
Δημοσίευση σχολίου