MITOMED PROJECT
REGIONAL GAP AND SWOT
ANALYSES – Review Session
Larnaca District Development Agency
CYPRUS
MITOMED Second Meeting
Girona, 15-16 January 2015
Overview of the Activities Carried out
in Cyprus
• Assign a team of 4 people to work for the project:
 review which indicators are feasible, relevant
and important for Cyprus,
 collect the data for the indicators,
 prepare the SWOT analysis for M&C tourism for
Cyprus
 collect relevant data for the good practice.
• Engage stakeholders to the process:
 identify the stakeholders to be involved (already
has be done during the preliminary survey)
 start to contact and involve the stakeholders to
the activities of MITOMED
MITOMED Second Meeting – Girona 15/16 January 2015
Overview of the Activities Carried out
in Cyprus
Stakeholders:
 Cyprus Tourism Organization (CTO),
 Statistical Service of Cyprus,
 Ministry of Energy, Commerce, Industry and
Tourism  Nautical Tourism Development Unit
 Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resources and
Environment  Water Development Department
 Cyprus Sustainable Tourism Initiative
 Regional Tourism Development and Promotion
Board of Larnaca.
 Local Authorities – District offices of Larnaca and
Famagusta
 Cyprus Agrotourism Company
MITOMED Second Meeting – Girona 15/16 January 2015
Overview of the Activities Carried out
in Cyprus
• We have carefully reviewed the initial list of the
indicators and see which are feasible and relevant/
important for Cyprus organize a focus group
with the stakeholders
• Started the collection of data based on the final list
Involve
of indicators.
• Prepare the SWOT Analysis } Stakeholders and
get feedback from
• Selected a Good Practice }
them
MITOMED Second Meeting – Girona 15/16 January 2015
Overview of the Activities Carried out
in Cyprus
• Focus group:
MITOMED Second Meeting – Girona 15/16 January 2015
Overview of the Activities Carried out
in Cyprus
Overview of the process
• From the focus group we have also identified for
each indicator (most of them) the relevant data
source:
→ Most of the data were available from the
Statistical Service of Cyprus
→ Data from the Research Department of the
CTO.
→ Some available data from the two relevant
Ministries from relevant reports and data bases they
have (some data are not available on line).
MITOMED Second Meeting – Girona 15/16 January 2015
Overview of the Activities Carried out
in Cyprus
Overview of the process
• The team started to collect the relevant data for
year 2013 (in cooperation with the stakeholders),
• For every indicator we recorded the source of data
relevant comments on this issue.
• All data files, reports, studies etc. that where used
are saved in a folder and linked to each indicator,
• Decision: update list of indicators every year but we
need to include more indicators (the ones that are
relevant for Cyprus and also feasible from the initial
list).
• Recorded problems we face and gaps,
• By the 12th of December we have collected all the
data.
MITOMED Second Meeting – Girona 15/16 January 2015
Overview of the Activities Carried out
in Cyprus
Overview of the process
• On the 17th December we had a second focus
group where we presented the results and get
comments/ feedback from them and on the 18th we
have sent the data to UOG.
MITOMED Second Meeting – Girona 15/16 January 2015
Indicators testing in Cyprus. Feedback on
data collected/ main findings
Brief description of main findings/most significant
data
Screenshot of indicators (with values)
Revised Indicators 01-12-14.xls
MITOMED Second Meeting – Girona 15/16 January 2015
SWOT ANALYSIS of M&C destinations
in Cyprus
During the second focus group we had the
opportunity to present the SWOT Analysis for
Maritime and Coastal Tourism in Cyprus and get
comments and feedbacks from the stakeholders
Strengths
 Very good Climate conditions (sun for 300 days all over year
and a subtropical climate),
 Offering of qualitative services (for example Very good and
prize-winning hotels with international marketing and
recognition and with high quality facilities),
 Alteration of tourist profile. Promotion of new touristic
products related to the sea and more environmental friendly,
 Rich Natural and Cultural Environment,
 Excellent quality of Bath Water,
 Short distances among major attractions
MITOMED Second Meeting – Girona 15/16 January 2015
SWOT ANALYSIS of M&C destinations
in Cyprus
Strengths
 Presence of incentives from government and funds for the
improvement of infrastructures and other kind of interventions,
 Wide scale infrastructures (accommodation and transport),
 Provision of e-services, electronic info-kiosks electronic
guides,
 Strong linkages with major stakeholders of the maritime sector
(maritime clusters),
 Research on coastal and marine tourism (ex. economic,
environmental impact etc.),
 Good standards of education, training and skills with
University departments and vocational d schools to provide
specialized personnel for coastal and maritime tourism,
 Use Carrying Capacity Assessment to sustain natural
resources
when
it
comes
to
Maritime
spatial
planning/Integrated Coastal Zone Management,
MITOMED Second Meeting – Girona 15/16 January 2015
SWOT ANALYSIS of M&C destinations
in Cyprus
Strengths
 Existence of relevant legislation applied in local level for
Integrated local development,
 Municipality, chamber of commerce and associations
participate to the development of policies and strategies for
maritime and coastal tourism,
 The existence of Regional Tourism Boards (PPP forms
responsible to promote public-private collaboration, regional
strategies, development of new products and promotion),
 Existence of national companies starting cruise itineraries,
 Proximity to main cruise destinations,
 Many shore attractions.
MITOMED Second Meeting – Girona 15/16 January 2015
SWOT ANALYSIS of M&C destinations
in Cyprus
Weakness
 “Monoculture” of the traditional “sea and sun” product,
 Increase of the model of mass tourism (all inclusive)
 The pressures for tourism development resulted in extensive
building construction of buildings along the coast and evident
deterioration of the visual and functional relationship between
the coast and the inland area,
 The development of tourism concentrated in the coastal zone
with a share of beds at 95% of the total, resulting in pressure
on the coastal environment,
 Lack of sufficient funding for further improvement of services
and development of new forms of products,
 Expensive destination,
 Decrease of the relation of quality/price,
 Low profitability,
 Seasonality,
 Limited ability of bank system to finance touristic activities,
MITOMED Second Meeting – Girona 15/16 January 2015
SWOT ANALYSIS of M&C destinations
in Cyprus
Weakness
 No Public Private Partnerships (PPP),
 Degradation of built environment in street level,
 Lack of efficient transport connections with the airport and in
general of transport connections in the island
 Need for closer cooperation related to spatial planning and
cluster development,
 Perception of low image of touristic education,
 Difficulties in the application of relevant regulations for
Integrated local development,
 No national funding opportunities and this causes difficulties
of Regional Boards to implement strategies, mostly due to
limited funding.
 Absennse of a national carrier (Cyprus Airways the national
carries has recently been closed down).
MITOMED Second Meeting – Girona 15/16 January 2015
SWOT ANALYSIS of M&C destinations
in Cyprus
Opportunities
 Enrichment of the existing “sea and sun” product with
alternative forms of tourism,
 Enrichment of the traditional Cypriot tourist product with new
elements which constitute a competitive advantage (e.g.
thalassotherapy, mineral springs etc.),
 Spatial and product diversification of tourism development
(greater emphasis on village tourism combined with cultural
heritage settings and facilities),
 Development of e-marketing for the facilitating penetration to
new markets,
 Increase interest from airlines,
 Strategy for the alteration of touristic profile,
 Funds that would encourage innovative products and services,
MITOMED Second Meeting – Girona 15/16 January 2015
SWOT ANALYSIS of M&C destinations
in Cyprus
Opportunities
 Access to EU funding for the construction of new
infrastructures and the improvement of the existed ones,
 Construction of water projects (port, marinas),
 Incentives for participation to training activities specially
dedicates to coastal and maritime tourism,
 Strategy for the promotion of new products and image of
Cyprus coastal and maritime tourism.
MITOMED Second Meeting – Girona 15/16 January 2015
SWOT ANALYSIS of M&C destinations
in Cyprus
Threats
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Seasonality is still harmful to tourism industry performance,
Depreciation of natural and built environment,
Degradation of sea front due to increased development,
The Cyprus tourism industry gradually moved towards mass
tourism,
Tourist arrivals have been increasing but environmental quality
and the length of stay are diminishing,
Cyprus is now subject to strong competition from other similar
destinations,
Limited financial resources for research on coastal and
maritime tourism,
Competition from emergence non EU destinations (for example
Turkey),
Dependency from tour operators,
Weakened hospitality image
MITOMED Second Meeting – Girona 15/16 January 2015
SWOT ANALYSIS of M&C destinations
in Cyprus
Threats
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Difficulty to attract new investments,
Difficulties of SME’s to access private finance,
Lot of ageing infrastructures that need upgrade,
Overconcentration of economic activities in coastal areas,
Loss of productive resources,
Environmental pressures,
Potential environmental pressures to bathing waters.
MITOMED Second Meeting – Girona 15/16 January 2015
Indicators testing - GAP ANALYSIS:
Overview of initial findings
Knowledge
Current Situation
(what we have)
Future state
(what we would
like to
have/need)
GAP
(in terms of
knowledge
and/or
performance)
Next Actions /
Proposals (to
reach the future
state, what we
need)
Most of the data
are available for
Cyprus as well as
per subdestinations (Agia
Napa, Paphos etc)
Have a monitoring
toll Add more
indicators that are
relevant and
important for
Cyprus and
collected them
every yeay
Some data are not
available online or
easy to get
Assign a body to
collect-gather the
data every year
Better interaction
between relevant
stakeholders
No data on Area
and volume of
sand nourishment
We want to have
this data
Municipalities dont
keep record on
this data
Start to record the
data for this
indicator
MITOMED Second Meeting – Girona 15/16 January 2015
Indicators testing - GAP ANALYSIS:
Overview of initial findings
Performance
Current Situation
(what we have)
Future state
(what we would
like to
have/need)
GAP
(in terms of
knowledge
and/or
performance)
Next Actions /
Proposals (to
reach the future
state, what we
need)
Problem of
seasonality
Tourists all over
the year
Monoculture” of
the traditional “sea
and sun” product
Tourism product
diversification and
alternative forms
of tourism
Mass Tourism with
all inclusive 
less tourism
spending
Increase the daily
spending of
tourisms 
income from
tourism
Dont know
consumption
behaviour of
tourisms
Market analysis
on behaviour of
tourisms from
different countries
MITOMED Second Meeting – Girona 15/16 January 2015
Regional good practices
Good Practice: Water data collection, data bases,
access and utilization of data by third parties – The
upgrade to a Geographical Information System
 NECSTouR Topic of the practice Reduction and
Optimization of Use of Natural Resources with
particular reference to Water
 All Country
 Started November 2010 and finish end of 2013
 The Water Development Department is responsible
for implementing the water in Cyprus  main
objective of this policy is the rational development,
protection and management of the water resources
of Cyprus.
MITOMED Second Meeting – Girona 15/16 January 2015
Regional good practices
On November of 2010 the WD with respect to water
data collection (Law 79(I)/2010) started the following
activities :
 To conduct activities related to the investigation,
monitoring and research of the Republic's water
resources,
 To conduct water monitoring and control
programmes,
 To collect, evaluate and maintain data and
information on the available water resources and
on their quality,
 To construct, maintain and operate hydrometric
works,
 To keep registers and data bases.
MITOMED Second Meeting – Girona 15/16 January 2015
Regional good practices
Based on this the WD start the collection of data-on
the Water Quantity:
 Rivers: monitoring programme: Data collected from
52 sites on a continuous/mean daily flows and data
are available on a time series since October 1965.
 Groundwater: monitoring programme: Data from 50
sites once a month and data on springflow and
temperatures. Data are available on time series
since 1950.
 Groundwater levels: More than 1100 boreholes are
currently monitored and data collected twice a
month with time series since 1960.
 Reservoirs: monitoring programme: Data collected
from 19 sites on a daily basis on the water level
and storage. Time series from the 1990.
MITOMED Second Meeting – Girona 15/16 January 2015
Regional good practices
For the Water Quality:
 Surface Waters: 45 river monitoring stations,
frequency: 9time per year, 13 lake (reservoir)
monitoring stations, frequency: 6 times per year.
Elements
for
biological
monitoring:
macroinvertebrates, phytobenthos, macrophytes,
chlorophyll a. Parameters for chemical monitoring:
Metals, VOCs, Pesticides, PCBs, PAHs, nutrients,
microbiology,
exotoxicology,
physico‐chemical
parameters (Temp., pH, EC, DO, Turbidity)
 Groundwater: 88 monitoring stations: 85 boreholes,
3 springs. Frequency: 2 times per year. Parameters
for chemical monitoring: Metals, VOCs, Pesticides,
ionic analyses, physico‐chemical parameters.
MITOMED Second Meeting – Girona 15/16 January 2015
Regional good practices
For the Water Quality:
 Small reservoirs monitoring programme: 21
reservoirs, frequency: 3 times per year.
Parameters:
Ionic
analysis,
nutrients,
physico‐chemical parameters.
 Major springs monitoring programme. 50 springs,
frequency: 2 times per year. Parameters: Ionic
analysis, physico‐chemical parameters.
 Monitoring of village drinking water sources. Large
number of boreholes and springs, frequency: once
a year.
 Monitoring of water temperature of major
reservoirs. frequency: 2 times per week.
 Monitoring of physico‐chemical parameters in
rivers. >60 sites, frequency: once a month.
MITOMED Second Meeting – Girona 15/16 January 2015
Regional good practices
 Creation of the CYMOS data base that has a map
interface for station selection.
MITOMED Second Meeting – Girona 15/16 January 2015
Regional good practices
 Creation of the CYMOS data base that has a map
interface for station selection.
MITOMED Second Meeting – Girona 15/16 January 2015
Regional good practices
 Creation of the CYMOS data base that has a map
interface for station selection.
MITOMED Second Meeting – Girona 15/16 January 2015
Regional good practices
 in 2010 began the implementation of the first
phase of the project "Creation of an Integrated
Geographic Information System for the Water
Development Department”.
That was:
 Creation of a Database consisting of inter alia
geographic data (measuring stations, basins,
projects) and hydrometeorological (surface water,
groundwater, rainfall) and management data.
 Management
System:
a
Subsystem
of
Management and Processing Geographic and
Hydrological Data.
 Network Management Applications: network
management by category such as mapping and the
management of network zones
MITOMED Second Meeting – Girona 15/16 January 2015
Regional good practices
 The second had the objective to further develop
and expand the applications, which will add more
value to existing data and increase the analytical
and functionality of the systems.
Some of the activities of the second phase are:
 further expansion of the first phase systems in the
Services and the District Offices, Operating System
and Maintenance and fixed networks,
 Metering Management System interface with
telemetry and Balance Sheet Water Quantities,
 Applications graded access to different subsystems
of the Internet and a hydrosystem management
system and dam safety.
MITOMED Second Meeting – Girona 15/16 January 2015
Regional good practices
The Integrated Geographic Information System
MITOMED Second Meeting – Girona 15/16 January 2015
Regional good practices
The Integrated Geographic Information System
MITOMED Second Meeting – Girona 15/16 January 2015
Regional good practices
The Integrated Geographic Information System
MITOMED Second Meeting – Girona 15/16 January 2015
Regional good practices
Integrated Water Geographic Information System
Monitoring tool of the use of water all over
Cyprus and the tool allows to have a
management and optimization of water
resources as well as water quality in Cyprus,
where water scarcity is a serious problem in the
island.
MITOMED Second Meeting – Girona 15/16 January 2015