In line with figures revealed by the Audit Workplace in its report on the Deputy Ministry of Tourism, solely 23% of resorts and vacationer lodging in Cyprus presently have a full license to function.
The Audit Bureau’s report on the Deputy Ministry of Tourism notes that 55% of lodging institutions are working with out full authorized compliance and 22% are working with solely non permanent permits.
It was additionally said that solely 24 out of 241 vacationer lodging services are licensed within the government-controlled Famagusta area.
In response to the report’s findings, the Deputy Ministry of Tourism acknowledged that vital progress had been made concerning tourism enterprise permits, however famous that the issue remained largely unresolved as greater than half of the tourism sector had by no means submitted an utility for a allow.
In an announcement, the deputy ministry mentioned it will take into accounts the findings of the Board of Audit and take obligatory compliance measures.
On the identical time, the report remembers that licensing points have plagued the tourism business for nearly 30 years and worsened considerably between 2014 and 2018, when main renovations and additions to lodge items had been made following city planning incentives in 2013, and additional backlogs occurred.
Solely 43 working licenses had been issued in the course of the five-year transition interval stipulated by the 2019 regulation, leading to simply 6% of resorts receiving common licenses by April 2023.
To hurry up the method, a brand new invoice was launched in 2023, extending the compliance deadline till December 31, 2025, whereas introducing stricter laws and intermediate management steps with a specific concentrate on security and well being safety.
In line with the most recent knowledge, by the top of 2024 the variety of absolutely licensed lodging services will enhance to 94, representing 12.69% of the whole. As well as, 146 items, or roughly 19.7%, obtained operational certificates as stipulated by the present regulation.
At the moment, 23% of lodge items are working with full licenses and an extra 22% are working with non permanent working licenses.
Response of the Deputy Ministry of Tourism of Cyprus
The vice ministry revealed that underneath the brand new authorized association, tourism operators can legally proceed working till December 31, 2026, so long as they’ve a allow to construct resorts and different vacationer lodging services.
Regardless of the measures taken, the ultimate decision of the difficulty continues to be hampered by the truth that greater than 50% of items have by no means submitted a license utility, which is a primary prerequisite for finishing the method.
The Deputy Ministry added that consultations have been underway with the competent state establishments over the previous two years with the goal of lastly resolving the difficulty and making certain circumstances of legality, security and equal remedy for all corporations on this sector. On the identical time, periodic reminders are despatched to specialists in every division to adjust to related obligations.
Relating to self-catering vacationer lodging, the vice ministry factors out that the measures carried out from 2023 onwards have achieved nice outcomes, with the variety of registered items growing from 4,765 items in April 2023 to eight,478 items by June 29, 2026, a rise of 78%.
Moreover, prior to now yr, competent authorities filed 88 complaints concerning institutions working with out being registered within the official register.
