Nicosia :
Sun, sea and hospitality are Cyprus’ strongest selling points, but there is still room to improve the promotion of its tourist destinations online, according to a recent study.
Carried out by the University of Nicosia and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), the joint study looked into the portfolio of Cypriot tourism in an attempt to record opinions, views and messages from the two main factors that shape the tourist scene — the tourists and the local professionals.
More specifically, the food, accommodation and hospitality were listed as the island’s strong points where tourists seem to be especially satisfied. On the other hand, tourism-related websites are not frequently visited.
PwC thoroughly examined and evaluated specific forms of tourism, conducting targeted interviews with selected people from the tourist activity in Cyprus. They concluded that Health and Wellness tourism was a particularly pleasant surprise because of its popularity.
Specifically, it was found that one in three tourists visit Cyprus for health and wellness reasons, recording a significant increase in comparison to previous years.
The main advantages of the specific kind of tourism include the quality of services and facilities as well as the quality of added services.
Only one in two participants said the island’s cultural tourism was an important or very important criterion for choosing Cyprus, although they stated that they left with experiences of cultural tourism, according to the study.
Religious tourisms seems to be a rising power as the findings confirmed the increase in tourists from Russia and other Russian-speaking countries which has created a high demand for this type of travel.
Benefits include cleanliness and decency of religious spaces, tour guide services and accessibility. However, one in two participants stated that they would prefer churches to be open for tourists for longer.
The study also showed that the sun and sea are timeless and constant values and remain the most important criterion for tourists as they make their choices.
It is noted that 95.6% of visitors responded that the sun and sea are the main selection factors for their chosen tourist destination. Meanwhile, 84.8% of respondents said that Cyprus fulfilled those criteria.
Regarding the specific characteristics of the ‘sun and sea’ category, the main advantages listed include clean waters, clean beaches, accessibility, lifeguard equipment and the organisation of events on beaches.
Despite the fact that tourists were generally satisfied with the tourism infrastructure in Cyprus, only a small percentage of 6.3% said that they got their money’s worth while vacationing in Cyprus.
source: http://www.incyprus.com.cy / September 08th, 2013
