Farah Shammas: A successful tourism industry requires excellent private and public sector collaboration

According to Farah Shammas, Managing Director of St Raphael Resort and Marina, in order to ‘go big’ and transform Limassol into a successful tourist destination, the public and private sectors need to cooperate and we need to have many more flights in and out of the island.

She also makes the point that ‘mass’ and ‘quality’ tourism can be one and the same thing.

Cyprus relies heavily on the sun and sea to attract tourists. How can Limassol contribute into transforming Cyprus into a year-round destination?

We love our gorgeous weather and stunning sea but we really have so much more to offer. Limassol has become a culinary centre with absolutely fantastic restaurants where taste, decor and incredible experiences have no boundaries – to the east with international names such as Nammos, LPM, Matsuhisa and Novikov (opening soon), to the west with captivating experiences like Columbia Sun, the old port, the old town and so many in between including our own Golden Monkey and Bege, plus, of course, so many more in the hotels and the town. We also have fantastic archaeological and incredible nature trails that more and more people get to appreciate. Over the past five years, the Deputy Ministry of Tourism has developed many year-round efforts to promote Christmas Villages, healthy travel, Cypriot breakfasts, Heartlands of Legends and more. Casino, conference and incentive travel has also contributed greatly to establishing Limassol – and Cyprus – as a year-round destination but we can still do more, for example in terms of concerts with internationally famous singers and bands, sporting events, technology fairs, museum creations and film productions. Netflix will soon be airing Find Me Falling, the first movie promoting Cyprus (filmed, produced and based on a story here). To go this big, we need many more like this and, ideally, a reality show based here too.

There is a general consensus that the understaffing of hotels and tourism businesses lowers the quality of services provided. How can this recurring issue be effectively tackled?

We need to plan this carefully! Unfortunately, the only solution at present is to employ staff from third countries and, to do this, we need affordable housing solutions. It would be great if a subsidy or some form of support could be made in the direction of assisting hotels and hotel employees with affordable and quality housing. We also need to train all employees, old and new, to respond to the new trends and cater to the modern traveller’s needs. We have to show what this industry is really about and encourage people to enter and come back to it – it’s a people’s industry and so rewarding!

It has been suggested that a switch from mass tourism to ‘quality tourism’ will yield a more sustainable turnover of visitors. Given that Cyprus is a small market, can it make this transition? If so, how can it be achieved?

I think there is confusion about what the ‘mass tourism’ and ‘quality tourism’ models are all about and, in this modern era, there is a huge grey area between the two. We are an island which relies solely on air connectivity to get people here and to do this we need tour operators who make their money through economies of scale and therefore en masse but this does not mean ‘cheap’ – or it doesn’t have to. The most important aspect is to have enough flights coming here, throughout the whole year, for people to have the flexibility, choice and possibility to come to Cyprus whenever they want at affordable prices. To do this, we need to become a hub where planes fly in and out, even if this means connecting outbound passengers. This is a good thing and nothing to be worried about. We want connecting flights – ‘the more the merrier’ as the saying goes. Landing fees, taxes and subsidies have to be looked at in this case with a long- term plan for the better evolution of the country in every segment. At the end of the day, to sell business-class tickets we need economy tickets to be sold too. A few travellers on private planes are not going to fill up our hotels. We need options for all and we are an expensive destination so, realistically, we already attract higher-end tourists. So, the ‘mass tourism’ model is needed but can be served in a ‘quality’ way.

How important are collaborations and partnerships between the public and private sectors to improve the island’s tourism and hospitality industry?

They are extremely important! We need to have excellent collaboration and work towards the same goal. One sector should not feel afraid of the other or threatened by it; we need to look forward to hotel inspections and to ministry and government meetings; we must look at new guidelines and new laws together, be stricter on illegal planning

and on buildings and tourism establishments that lower the quality of the destination. We should not ‘charge’ hotels at every unemployment or tax opportunity but rather help them deal with the increasing cost of electricity, water, staffing and more, as well as moving towards real sustainable models of working and a cleaner island. There’s a lot to be done and, with the right vision, it is all achievable.

(This interview first appeared in the June edition of GOLD magazine. Click here to view it.)