Cyprus Diaspora Forum

Yesterday I had the pleasure to moderate a panel of distinguished guests from the Hospitality and Tourism Sector at the Cyprus Diaspora Forum in Limassol. Paul Lambis , Niki Lambis and their dedicated team did a fantastic job to bring together so many individuals from the Cyprus Diaspora around the world, from Australia to London to South Africa to the States.

There was plenty of 'food for thought' during the panel, and much of the discussion cantered around the new 'post-covid' guest, the demands of the modern traveller, the preferred requirements of younger clients and of course the hot topic (and my favourite one) of sustainability.

Here is the list of the inspiring panellists along with the questions that I posed to them. Hope this will give you too some food for thought and for their answers, you will have to follow Cyprus Diaspora Forum and watch the recordings and social media coverage. Enjoy :)

Mr Tasos Michael, Executive and Acting CEO of Cyprus Airways:

?Cyprus Airways has been through huge changes as a brand and name, from ownerships to philosophy. Can you tell us a little bit about the current direction and aims for the airline, how it intends to support the island and its sustainability goals with specific targets?

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Eleana Stylianou, Century Travel Group

In an era when travellers are demanding above and beyond experiences, especially post Covid lockdowns, how do you satisfy this and interestingly how do you cope with complaints which we are all too used to receiving in our industry? What are travellers looking for and what do they prioritize when booking? Is the hot topic of sustainability noticeably a prioritize for most, and can you give us any statistics?

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Elena Tanou, Top Kinisis Travel Elena Tanou

You have been a pioneer in the industry and seen so many changes in your career, from the mass tourism model of the ‘80s to the more ‘educated’ traveler of today. What are the biggest developments you have witnessed and how has the industry adjusted to cope with them? How do you see the traveler of the future?

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Jochen Niemann, Hotel Manager, Almyra Hotel Jochen Niemann

You have been on the island you are certainly a local and Cypriot, however luckily for us you have kept your strong German connection and ties being part of Cyprus German Business Association and more with many German tour operators contracts and guests. Can you shed some light into what Germans (and even Europeans) are looking for and how has this changed over the recent years. What can we do to provide for them better?

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Minas Mavromoustakos, GM of Andy’s Agathocleous Motors Group of Companies Minas Mavromoustakos

What are your predictions for the coming season? With COVID, we saw a huge change from forward bookings to a trend of last-minute bookings, is this still the case in your industry too? Are many people booking cars in order to really explore the island and don’t have any insights into where they like to go and how we can better promote our island as a whole? On the other hand, with the financial world going crazy, are many people making sense of leasing cars long term instead of buying cars?

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Miranda Tringis, Herbalist, Founder of Cyherbia Botanical Park Miranda Tringis

What you have achieved is simply remarkable. Tell us some of your most successful initiatives, why were they so impactful and please give us some inspiration into how everyone can help to create more sustainable businesses and also to attract both local and international tourists?

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Nicos Andronicou, CEO WE hotels Nicos Andronicou (NA)

With so many booking engines around, why did you see a need to open another and what is your UPO. How do you monitor hotels and your service providers to make sure they are really sustainable and not just green washing? What is most important to travelers when they book on your site, what are they looking for (traveler ratings, cleanliness, food options, accessibility, sustainability, etc ?)

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Philipos Drousiotis, Cyprus Sustainability Tourism Initiative Philippos Drousiotis

Please tell us more exactly what the aims are of the initiative and what are your proudest achievements to date? How can every single traveler help make a difference and reduce their environmental impact?

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Ricardo Gorski, Tax One, YouTuber Ricardo Gorski

As people relocating to Cyprus also falls under our tourism umbrella, what are the main reasons people choose Cyprus over the other top five alternative options and how can we facilitate their move to make it easier?

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Yiannis Christodoulides, Zela Jet and Zela Aviation Zela Aviation

Tell us about the business of private and luxury air travel and why is there an increase in demand in recent times? A lot has been seems recently with A listers being publicly criticized for the environmental impact of private plane travel and ownership, what are your views on this and what initiatives have you put in place with regard to reducing your companies carbon footprint? Finally, can you tell us a little about the BAC 1-11 aircraft and why this is so important?

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George Khalife, Benego Food App Benego George Khalife

You have recently created a company to help minimize food waste in hotels and restaurants. Tell us where you got the idea for your company and service? Why is sustainability important to you and do you see this becoming more of an issue for your generation? What you like to see us ‘older’ folk do?

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