Insider / ΚΥΠΕ
The Ministry of Tourism and the Parliamentary Committee on Trade, Energy, Industry and Tourism are looking for solutions to the issue of the need to improve the mechanism for collecting statistical data related to the tourism sector, which will be evaluated, processed and used in the formulation of the tourism strategy. , with stakeholders even seeking regulation by law.
Undersecretary of Tourism Savvas Perdios told the Commission on Tuesday that around the end of November and the beginning of December, the Undersecretariat plans to present a comprehensive survey with tourism statistics, which is being prepared for the first time by the newly established research unit of the Ministry. The research will concern statistics for the years 2020 and 2021, collected from various sources, such as the statistical service, the Cyprus Flight Pass, the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and google analytics.
However, Mr. Perdios noted that the State Department will consult with all stakeholders in order to formulate a comprehensive proposal regarding the collection of statistics on tourism from various agencies and sources.
At the moment, he said, the State Department receives regular updates only from the airport management company, Hermes Airports, and the State Statistics Service.
A representative of Hermes Airports informed the deputies that the company has statistics on passenger traffic and better quality analyzes, which it shares with all tourism operators. What is missing, he said, is more specialized information, such as surveys of each tourism market, and he suggested setting up an body to receive and share all this information.
The general director of the Association of Tourism Enterprises of Cyprus Chrysaimili Psilogeni stated that the collection and processing of data is very important for entrepreneurs in the sector, however there are shortcomings. He acknowledged that the industry itself is responsible, as many companies do not provide accurate statistics, and suggested that hoteliers be required to provide data on the completeness of their units per month.
“We must move from the voluntary database to a legislative one,” said ACTA President Vassilis Stamataris, a position agreed by PASYXE.
In his statements after the meeting, the Chairman of the Committee Kyriakos Hatzigiannis stated that “an integrated policy for the management of statistical data must be defined, which will be the basis for all the plans and all the policies of the Ministry of Tourism”. He added that the State Department should be a competent authority and not just a recipient of the data.
Mr. Hatzigiannis said the Ministry of State will consult with the stakeholders and will prepare a comprehensive proposal for the management of statistics and if there is a need for legislation will be promoted jointly.
Finally, he spoke about a step forward, which is extremely necessary for the state's plans in the field of tourism.
DIPA MP Michalis Giakoumi noted that data collection alone is not enough to solve a problem, emphasizing the importance of reading the data correctly. He concluded that all stakeholders should work collectively, analyzing these data for the progress of Cypriot tourism.
