George Tofinis: I believe that "Service-Service-Service" is the new "location-location-location"

2023 was a record year for NissiBlu Beach Resort in Ayia Napa, with 2024 forecasted to be just as successful, encouraging the hotel’s administration and management to make grand plans for the future.

George Tofinis, CEO of Nissiblu Beach Resort, told InBusinessNews in an interview that while this is great news, it will not make the management complacent, but instead push it to further upgrade the hotel's product and services.

And as he revealed, one of the top priorities for the hotel is to achieve its target of remaining open all year around. Expansions are in sight as well.

Your hotel is located in one of the most popular regions that attracts a large number of tourists. When did it open and how successful has it been so far?

Indeed, the free Famagusta area and especially Ayia Napa are considered by many to be the tip of the spear in terms of tourism in Cyprus. Of course there are many reasons why this is rightfully so.

The Nissi Bay area is considered the most privileged area, adjacent to the best and most awarded beach in Cyprus, Nissi Beach.

NissiBlu Beach Resort started its operation in April 2019, and due to its privileged and unique location, it has been a great success from the very first year. The hotel's almost immediate success showed how much the area needed an upgraded luxury hotel like NissiBlu.

Unfortunately, the following year, 2020, the coronavirus pandemic broke out. We did not give up, however, and made continuous efforts to operate. So you can understand, we opened and closed three times in 2020. This had its corresponding financial cost, but we were not discouraged.

The next two years were also difficult due to the difficult conditions of the pandemic. In 2021 we operated with many restrictions. But we had a satisfactory turnover under the circumstances.

In 2022 came the war between Russia and Ukraine, two countries from which Cyprus’ tourism and especially Ayia Napa had great interests with large numbers of arrivals. And suddenly we almost forgot about the pandemic.

From the middle of 2022 work started to improve, despite the adverse conditions. This shows the strength and resilience of Ayia Napa as a tourist destination.

2023 was a record year for ΝissiBlu. 2024 is also a very successful year, reaching the record levels of 2023. The first indications for 2025 are also very positive.

Can you share any future plans you have for the hotel and the company in general?

At NissiBlu we are certainly not complacent because of our successes, but instead encouraged to proceed with further continuous ugrades of its product, as well as of the services our hotel offers.

The effort to upgrade the hotel premises has been ongoing since the second year. Every year, when we are closed, we invest a serious amount in upgrades.

One of our ultimate goals is for the hotel to remain open on a twelve-month basis, and I hope that this will soon become possible. It's also a matter of flights, of course.

Another equally important goal of ours is to ensure the hotel is always top of the list when it comes to customers’ preferences, and to be held in very high esteem.

As for the company, we plan to develop it with the addition of more hotel units in the future and we see various possible options for this, both in the wider area and outside the free area of ​​Famagusta.

How do you see tourism and the hotel sector in Cyprus? What are their prospects and what can be done in order to develop them further?

I think we've been doing well in recent years. There have been some major projects in the area such as the Ayia Napa Marina, as well as other marinas in the wider ​​Famagusta region and projects to enrich the area’s tourism product.

I see very positively all the upgrades that have been made in tourism in general and in the hotel industry in particular, as well as in all affiliated industries such as restaurants, cafes, leisure centres in the area, as well as at the product and service level.

I love seeing these upgrades, but at the same time I'm also thinking about all the things that need to be done. For all this, be sure that they do not go unnoticed by our customers.

Every visitor who comes to Cyprus deserves and should have our absolute respect and we should not fall in the trap of categorising them into "quality" and "non-quality". The customers are here and we have an obligation to serve them all well and offer them the proper hospitality that is required.

I am personally tired of hearing about "quality" and "non-quality" tourism. The better "quality" tourists will come with the continuous upgrading of our product, so let's focus on what we need to do to attract the tourism we want.

After all, for some the "quality" tourist is the one who spends more, while for others it is the one who will visit all the museums and come into contact with many other parts of the culture of our country.

The tourism sector is very competitive and we have often seen areas that were doing very well at some point lose their competitiveness. That is why we should not rest assured, but also not stop our efforts as a tourist destination for continuous improvement and enrichment in all areas.

This means the enrichment and continuous upgrading of all the hotel units and tourist apartments in the area, as well as the general image of the area and whatever that entails.

For this reason, we must prioritise every area of ​​safety and health, as well as proper and moderate policing.

Zero tolerance for noise pollution, a clear upgrade of the area’s aesthetic image, but also the provision of high-level experiences to visitors, are key.

We must highlight the local culture through unique workshops, while visitors should have the opportunity to experience our history and culture through interesting information points.

At the same time, culinary experiences and unique life experiences will contribute to the creation of unforgettable memories for each visitor.

I strongly believe in the need for quality and continuous upgrading of the entire package and the entire experience for tourists in our region. This will keep us at the cutting edge and will further promote us as a quality and exceptional world-class tourist destination. It will attract even more tourists from all countries of the world.

This will of course have a positive impact on prices, on the overall profitability of the destination. When we achieve the above we will have achieved a large percentage of our goals.

The area of ​​Ayia Napa attracts hundreds of thousands of tourists every year. What could be done to make it an even more attractive tourist destination?

I believe that "Service-Service-Service" is the new "location-location-location", as the motto for the ultimate success of a hotel unit or a tourist destination is. The fortunate thing is that in Ayia Napa we have the location anyway since our area is lucky and blessed with the best beaches. That is why we must make continuous efforts to upgrade the services.

Certainly much more can and must be done. Below are some very specific projects that should be done soon:

• Better bus stops, we also have to take into account the extreme weather conditions and increasingly high temperatures during the summer months in the Eastern Mediterranean region.
• Planting a large number of trees, to create a new, greener Ayia Napa
• More technology in all hotels, restaurants and attractions. An effort has already begun and this is a good start, but this effort must be continued.
• Cooperation with universities in Cyprus and abroad for the rapid introduction and use of new technologies such as AI.
• More green energy. If it is possible to make Ayia Napa a destination with zero pollutants. This will make us a top destination in several markets which are very sensitive in this area such as Germany, Austria, Switzerland and also the Scandinavian countries.
• Continuous training of human resources to upgrade the service level in all sectors of the tourism industry. In airports, taxis, buses, cruises, museums, attractions, hotels and restaurants. There should be friendliness, professionalism, and enthusiasm in what we do to highlight what we all know as authentic Cypriot hospitality.
• Creation of more local and international cultural programs. In the months it is needed, by attracting and hosting internationally recognised artists, e.g. a Jazz week in November. We can host 10-15 artists for a complete jazz program. Here we should give credit to the Municipality of Ayia Napa for all the efforts made in the institution of the Medieval Festival of Ayia Napa, an institution that has been very successful in all areas and which has proven to attract a lot of people.

I could say a lot about all that can be done in Ayia Napa but let's stop here.

Here I would also like to point out the importance of cooperation and coordination of opinions from all sectors and stakeholders of tourism. From local travel agencies, small and large, international travel agents and tour operators, the Deputy Ministry of Tourism, local authorities and all other tourism players.

Direct hotel bookings are indeed more profitable, but we must all understand that as an island we also need the international tourist organisations that have their planes and add the flights with all the financial risks.

And of course in this way Cyprus can enjoy large numbers of tourist arrivals all year round, and for this reason we must have the corresponding respect for them.