Koumis decries ‘unfair’ tourism competition from north

Deputy Tourism Minister Costas Koumis on Monday decried what he described as “unfair competition” from the north in the tourism sector.

Questioned by Politis Radio over tour operator Tui’s denial of reports that it had struck a deal with the Republic of Cyprus to stop providing day trips for its holidaymakers in Cyprus to the north, he insisted that the government “had the right” to “demand better benefits” for the Republic’s tourism sector when signing contracts with tour operators.

“Do I not have the right, when I have across the table from me an organisation which promotes images saying ‘Discover Kyrenia’ on its website, and thus indirectly promotes the occupied areas as a destination, to ask them to remove it so we can proceed with a cooperation agreement?” he asked.

With this in mind, he expressed concern that the flow of tourists crossing to and from the north at the crossing points is “increasing year on year” and added that “our problem is the unfair competition” provided by the north.

Questioned directly on the matter of Tui’s day trips to the north, he said, “we never announced anything.

“You know the facts. Tui sent an email to Turkish Cypriot stakeholders, and a few days later, after a few reactions from the Turkish Cypriot side, they replied in another email, leaving question marks.”

He added, “what I know is that the company, which has for years had a place in the development of tourism in our country, wishes to end this public dialogue.”

He then said he was “speaking with the Tui office in London” about various matters.

He said day trips to the north “are allowed under the Green Line regulation”, but then asked, “do we not have the right to demand better benefits to the Republic of Cyprus?”

The issue of day trips to the north came to the fore last week when an email was sent by Tui’s operations team manager in Cyprus to its local partners indicating that it would no longer promote or sell excursions to the north after having “come to an agreement with [the] Cyprus government” to end such excursions.

The email provoked outrage from stakeholders and politicians in the north, and when asked about the matter, Koumis had last week elected to skirt around the matter.

“We work with a large number of organisations, but I do not think it is right to make statements about an agreement which concerns two parties,” he said, later adding that, “we never choose to make any information public”.

However, this position was upended on Friday evening when Tui told the Cyprus Mail the “email does not reflect” the company’s position on the matter.

“Quotes by a local employee regarding our excursion offer in northern Cyprus which were published in media reports in recent days do not reflect the position of Tui Cyprus in content and form,” they said.

“As a truly global company, Tui is always advocating for exchange and collaboration as the base for mutual understanding and peaceful coexistence.”

“The employee in question has been warned to not make unapproved statements which misrepresent the company’s position,” they said.

“Of course guests are able to freely choose whatever excursions and activities they want to engage in while on holiday in Cyprus. Countless excursion packages that include northern Cyprus are available to choose from.”