Assignment 7.4
Cyprus-declining
Cyprus is the third largest and third most populous island in the Mediterranean, and a member state of the European Union. Cyprus is located in the south of Turkey, it is northwest of Israel, west of Syria and Lebanon, north of Egypt and east of Greece. On the Butlers tourism life cycle model I think that Cyprus would be at stage 4-5 because the island is in decline and has declined 17% in popularity as a tourist destination. This could be due to a number of factors which include:

New products and services- low cost airline and new destinations
Flights to Cyprus are low cost. This may put some people off as they might want to travel with an up-market airline such as Virgin. There are lots of flights to Cyprus which can be caught from London, Edinburgh, Manchester and Belfast. EasyJet fly’s from all London airports to Cyprus once a day every day, Ryanair also fly’s to Cyprus ever day of the week. Cyprus is near Greece, Greece is currently in a recession which means they don’t have loads of money to improve there tourist attractions and the destination. Also Cyprus is declining because it is very close to Syria which is seen as a dangerous place as there is a war going on there at the moment. There isn’t much to do in Cyprus except for relaxing in the sun, so it’s not really an activity holiday.
There are alternative ways to travel to Cyprus which include: a ferry from London to Cyprus via Turkey this goes daily and the prices vary depending on what time of year you go. Or you can get a train from London to Cyprus via Istanbul this can take 3-4 days but it goes daily and also varies in price.

Growth of leisure travel- short break
However short breaks to Cyprus are becoming less popular as a direct flight would take around 5 hours. This is quite long as people are only staying in Cyprus for a few days, they won’t be able to spend as much time in Cyprus as the flights are so long. However there are lots of things to see, you can go to museums such as the Cyprus museum, also you can go to see bays and other beaches around Cyprus, however these activities may mean people will have to stay for longer as they might be far away from their hotel.

Political factors
One political reason why Cyrus is declining in tourists wanting to go to the country is that it is only 508 km away from Syria which currently a war zone. This is very off putting for UK holiday makers, especially if they have young children as they don’t want to get hurt. Cyprus joined the EU in 2004. Cyprus is under government control and has a market economy which is dominated by the service sector. As Cyprus are part of the EU they’re entitled to grants for tourism development, infrastructure, public service organisations and marketing. In 2010-2012 the Cypriot government tried to make the UK ex-patriates move back to the UK. This caused a lot of distribution in the UK and around the world and the media got involved causing a further decrease in tourism. They also have a poor country website which put tourists off as soon as they see it. Because it’s quite it’s out of date and isn’t clear to use.
Economic factors
Cyprus currently uses the euro as there currency, this is good as a lot of countries use the euro, and this is good for certain tourists as they don’t need to change their money. However a negative with using the euro is that the euro is very weak compared to other currencies such as the pound. With Cyprus using the euro make it a benefit for the tourists as they get more out of there euro, however it is a negative for the locals in Cyprus. Another economic impact on Cyprus is that the property prices are competitive. Cyprus is one of the fastest growing property markets in Europe, owing competitive prices. The bad thing about Cyprus stock exchange is that it could no longer meet investor expectations.
Accommodation
The accommodation in Cyprus is very out of date and isn’t modern, it hasn’t been rebuilt or