2020 Cyprus Country Report

“Investing in
sustainable tourism
is decidedly
important to make a
positive contribution
to the sector, to
attract multimillion
investment into
large-scale
infrastructure
projects and to
offer an exceptional
tourism experience
and service to those
visiting Cyprus.”
How do you identify
the available investment
opportunities in the
market? How can
project owners work
with TourInvest to
attract investment
for their projects?
Part of the TourInvest initiative is to create a
Project Bank with all investment opportunities
that are available in the hospitality and tourism
sector, under the objective to attract investor interest
in Cyprus. To achieve this, we have been
maintaining close communication with project
owners and business associates, from where we
could derive information on the available opportunities.
All projects received are going through
an evaluation process by our team, taking into
consideration specific criteria and ensuring that
all information is valid and reliable and aligned
with our strategy. We encourage those who are
directly involved with market opportunities to
contact us and send us sufficient information on
projects through projects@investcyprus.org.cy.
How will TourInvest be
promoting investment
projects to international
investors?
The TourInvest unit aims to build its own
network of international investors, which will
look into Cyprus as a long-term investment hub
and to whom we would always provide the right
information based on their interests. To grow
and manage this network of both existing and
new investors, we maintain a well-managed calendar
of inhouse international events and missions
to present the sector-specific investment
opportunities and provide valuable information
about the economic outlook of Cyprus. We also
participate in targeted events with focus on the
tourism and hospitality sector with the objective
to promote Cyprus and to achieve effective lead
generation.
In addition, we have proceeded with the creation
of a new website dedicated to tourism and
hospitality sector opportunities, and have incorporated
a specific section dedicated on available
projects linked to the unit’s Project Bank (www.
tourinvestcyprus.org.cy) with the available and
reliable support materials. Due to the impact of
Covid-19 on travelling, we have adopted the right
technological tools to facilitate us to reach out to
our foreign investor network, maintain the communication
and monitor investment community
appetite.
The Covid-19 outbreak
has been devastating for
the tourism sector globally.
How can TourInvest
help Cyprus tourism
get back on its feet?
Undeniably, international tourism faces its worst
crisis with the predictions showing a huge decline
in international arrivals for this year. Despite
the tourism uncertainty prevailing globally,
TourInvest unit’s efforts are currently focusing on
supporting the sector through adjusting the right
measures and facilitating regulations under the
objective to lay the foundations for investment
and to regenerate the sector.
Cyprus is an established tourism destination
with a long history and experience in the tourism
and hospitality sector, and we have seen a number
of international hotel chain groups investing
in the island and expanding their brand name.
I am confident that we will manage to emerge
from this crisis into a more resilient future and
that there will always be the right opportunities
that will lead to the mobilisation of the economy
again. Given our role as the investment authority
of the Government, with the mandate to identify
and attract the right investors, we have placed
great emphasis on targeting the goals set by the
National Tourism Strategy which make our offering
even more attractive and aim to achieve a differentiated
and diversified tourism model.
In addition, we have been focusing on improving
and achieving sufficient air connectivity
between Cyprus and the rest of the world
in the post Covid-19 era, which is considered a
key priority and a critical factor for the sector.
Furthermore, the TourInvest unit has identified
the increasing potential of sustainable tourism,
establishing as key strategic priorities the promotion
of sustainable tourism investment projects
targeting the revitalisation of rural areas, sports
tourism growth, health tourism enrichment
and conference tourism exploitation. Investing
in sustainable tourism is decidedly important
to make a positive contribution to the sector, to
attract multimillion investment into large-scale
infrastructure projects and to offer an exceptional
tourism experience and service to those visiting
Cyprus. n
Interview
Country Report CYPRUS 2020 143