The Municipality of Ayia Napa, one of Cyprus’ main tourist resorts, has advised British tour operators against sending organised “low quality” youth tourists in the resort who misbehave damaging the reputation of the renowned resort.
In a letter to tour operators and British media, Ayia Napa Mayor Yiannis Karousos states the municipality is on the “path of turning Ayia Napa into the best and most cosmopolitan tourist resort of the Mediterranean,” adding this vision is also supported through the strategic plan that Cyprus has prepared for 2030.
He adds however that “currently, there is a type of tourism product which is not in line with our future strategy and our vision,” notably the “’organised youth’ who misbehave, do not respect the laws of Cyprus, and with their actions create negative publicity and actually do damage the reputation of the brand name “‘Ayia Napa’”.
“A brand name we all have worked communally very hard to reposition and reintroduce in the last years,” Karousos notes, adding “we shall not allow a small number of our visitors, less than 8% of our total arrivals per year, to turn away the remaining 90% + , with their negative actions and behaviours.”
Appealing to “the support of all the tour operators and business partners,” Karousos states that “we seek for their support in our attempts to fulfil the vision of our City and implement our strategy, as this is for the mutual benefit, but also for the long-term sustainability of our tourist resort.”
“We would therefore like to make it public that such inappropriate behavior from certain clientele (low quality youth market) and all their related business partners (tour operators, nightlife event organisers, etc.) are not welcomed in Ayia Napa,” he states.
Karousos furthermore notes that the Municipality “is working very closely with the Police and other government services to prevent all negative effects and shall be pushing for strict enforcement of the Cyprus laws,” while within 2018, a CCTV system will be installed across our City, which will be used for both, prevention and helping the police identify illegal behaviours.
“The City will take all actions required to implement the City council decision in order to fulfil our vision and turn Ayia Napa into the best and most cosmopolitan tourist resort of the Mediterranean,” Karousos adds.
