Koumis: Incentives coming for agrotourism amid efforts to support the tourism business ecosystem

Determining the right policies for tourism is important to ensure the strategic alignment of the sector’s business ecosystem, Deputy Minister of Tourism, Kostas Koumis has said.

In his address at the 45th Cyprus Hotel Summit & Exhibition taking place in Limassol on 23 February and presented by the Cyprus Hotels Association, Koumis said that announcements could be expected in the coming days regarding a plan to provide incentives to further support the agrotourism sector, which he described as a key international tourism trend.

The Deputy Minister suggested that the dynamic and multidimensional nature of tourism required continuous evaluation of market trends, which then feed into policy making.

"Policies, in turn, allow us to capitalise on challenges and opportunities, giving resilience to the tourism industry," he said. For this reason, Koumis stressed, the main priority of the Ministry of Tourism is to achieve alignment throughout the national tourism ecosystem.

According to the Deputy Minister, Cyprus as a destination is affected by the decisions and actions of many different agencies which means that "if we want to achieve much better results, we must achieve alignment."

In order to achieve alignment, he explained, it is important to set common priorities and common goals as partners and members of the Cypriot tourism ecosystem.

"Once we achieve this, we will also achieve a more resilient tourism sector," he said, adding that, therefore, "building resilience and achieving alignment should be our shared goals."

Earlier, he said that for the tourism industry to become even more successful, policies should encourage the industry to respond to market trends for which incentive schemes are available and should lead to quality and efficiency.

Regarding this point, Koumis specifically said that, unlike the price, the quality of the experience is what stays in the visitor's memory for a long time. For this reason, he added, the government is investing large sums in improving the infrastructures.

Regarding policies to respond to market trends, he explained that, for agrotourism the revitalisation of rural areas is a strategic priority of the state, informing the public at this point tha,t in a few days, an incentive plan will be announced that will aim to improve infrastructure in said areas.

As for the cultural tourism trend, the country is redesigning and redefining the concept of Aphrodite and is in the process of creating itineraries focusing on the Lusignan era in Cyprus.

Another big trend, known as bleisure (a blending of business and leisure travel), is also being closely watched by the country, in which a plan to strengthen Cyprus' position for digital nomads is being worked on.

Gastronomy, wellness and accessible and sports tourism are also aspects that are strongly considered by the government, which is taking a series of actions to improve them, the Deputy Minister said.

(Source: InBusinessNews)