The dependence of tourism in the occupied territories of the Republic of Cyprus through the of free areas is highlighted, among other things, by the strong reaction of the pseudo-state to the decision of the tourist giant TUI to end day trips to the occupied areas from the end of August.
The matter took on political dimensions in the Occupied States, as it was claimed in the pseudo-state, TUI's decision came after pressure and an agreement with the Republic of Cyprus – with Ersin Tatar even speaking of a “blockade policy” of the Greek side.
On the part of the government, however, the existence of a new agreement with Tui is neither confirmed nor denied, with the competent Deputy Minister of Tourism, Kostas Koumis, clarifying however that our policy has always been not to “promote any package that concerns our occupied territories”.
According to information from “F”, in various cooperation agreements with tourist organizations for the promotion of Cyprus through co-advertising, mainly there are clauses for non-promotion or advertising of the occupied areas, something that the current government made sure to repeat more strongly to its partners in view of the renewal of contracts but also because of intensified tourist competition between free and occupied areas of the island. Competition which, as Kostas Koumis said yesterday, is unfair and has many negative ramifications, even environmental ones.
Adding, speaking to RIK, that the interventions made on the coastline of the island in the occupied areas “tomorrow will be the absolute cause of coastal erosion along the entire island”.
In the above context, it seems that the effort that reportedly began last year on the part of the KD to limit the leakage of tourists to the occupied territories, which is also done through the one-day trips that for some time has also been offered by Tui, which is responsible, according to factors of the market, for more than 300 thousand tourist arrivals in the free zones annually.
Excursions that, as the company informed its partners last week, will be terminated from the end of August, causing, as reported, great disturbance in the pseudo-state. However, organized tours to the occupied territories are offered by many companies and tourist offices, as can be seen through TripAdvisor and other websites, as well as from advertising signs found in all the tourist cities in the free areas.
These are tours that seem to be channeling thousands of visitors to businesses in the occupied territories on a regular basis, as can be seen from reports in the Turkish press of the president of the Turkish Travel Agents Association (KITSAB) Orhan Tolun, who claimed that half of the approximately 20 daily tours in the occupied territories “they are made from the south”.
However, as we mentioned, Mr. Koumis both speaking to RIK and KYPE did not want to confirm the existence or not of a new agreement with Tui, arguing that it is generally not correct to make public agreements between two parties, once again recording the unfair competition that exists today . Clarifying at the same time that it has always been the policy of the Deputy Ministry of Tourism and previously of the CTO in all its collaborations for promotion not to show the occupied. “It is understood that we are constantly planning plans to promote our country with or without the cooperation of other tourism organizations, and it is understood that these plans cannot include our occupied territories,” he said in the Trito of RIK.
Asked by the KYPE if there is an agreement between the KD and TUI or if pressure was exerted to end the organized tours in the territories occupied by the specific organization, Mr. Koumis did not answer clearly stating that in this case, as in many other cases, “we are referring to a promotion campaign for our country”. These campaigns involve two parties, he added, saying that “we never choose to make any information public.”
However, he reiterated that the policy of the Deputy Ministry of Tourism is always stable: “We do not cooperate with any travel organizer who runs accommodation programs in the occupied territories”. Asked if TUI had done this, he said he would not make a statement regarding any tourism organisation. >
With Ersin Tatar being the first to open the dance of reactions for Tui's decision on Tuesday, these continued yesterday with warnings from the Ministry of Defense and retaliation.
We remind you that Tatar issued a written statement on the matter claiming that the IDF have targeted the tourism sector, illegally taking – as he claimed – “measures for the passage of people who want to have a holiday in the occupied territories, including EU citizens, who they made such reservations in advance.” Rather referring to the regulation of the green line for which, as Mr. Koumis said yesterday, we have not even touched it.
However, the reactions in the occupied territories continued yesterday in the same context that Tatar raised. “The Turkish people will never allow policies of economic siege and intimidation. It is not possible to reach a compromise with the minds of the government administration, which says at every opportunity that it wants a solution in Cyprus”, said the “prime minister”, Unal Ustel, adding that with the action of the government side – as he said – the aim is to limit the number of tourists arriving at Larnaca airport and transferring to the occupied territories. For his part, the “president of the parliament”, Zorlou Torre, said that the Greeks see Cyprus as a Greek island, the Greek fanaticism does not stop and that is why they are making moves to collapse the economy of the pseudo-state.
At the same time, in yesterday's main topic, Jeni Bakis argues that as a retaliation to the ban on one-day trips to the occupied territories, the possibility of tourist accommodation and hotels in Varosi, whose legal owners have been compensated through the “real estate commission”, is being studied. to be given for renovation and tourist exploitation. Reports of reprisals are also made in the NCM, involving Turkey in the matter in which Tui has great interests.
On the contrary, however, Tui's decision was characterized as a positive step by the president of PASYXE Famagusta Panagiotis Constantinou. In his statements to KYPE, Mr. Constantinou stated that this specific action “is in honor of TUI, which was essentially promoting competition with the tours it carried out in the occupied territories. The company's move to stop day trips is a positive step, to prevent the leakage of visitors to the properties.” Larnaca and the province of Famagusta are the two regions from which tourists go to the occupied territories,” he said. He also expressed the assessment that “the specific action of TUI is perhaps a way of not promoting to visitors the issue of recognizing the pseudo-state”.
Door to the pseudo-state from an exhibition
In the context of the efforts made to limit visits to the occupied territories, at least organized as the EU regulation does not allow any prohibition, the messages from the Deputy Ministry of Tourism in collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to organizers of tourist exhibitions for the participation of the pseudo-state in them. Steps that do not always bring results as the pseudo-state participates wearing the mantle of a company and not a state, but which seem to have achieved their purpose earlier this year as we are informed that the pseudo-state was excluded from participating in the tourism fair of Finland, the largest in Southern Europe.
source: Philenews
