In a joint press release, the municipal faction «First the Man» and the members of the Board of Directors of the Kythera Tourist Accommodation Association «Cerigo» expressed their views on tourism. The following is the press release:
«Kythera 15 December 2021,
On Monday 13 December 2021, an online discussion was held via the Zoom platform between representatives of the Cerigo Tourist Accommodation Association of Kythera and Municipal Councillors of the “People First” faction on the subject of “the present and future of the tourism product in Kythera”.
Present at the debate on behalf of the CERIGO association were the president and moderator of the debate Mrs. Vanessa Raikou, Mrs. Christina Selli, Mrs. Penny Tzortzopoulou, Mrs. Andriani Kanelli, Mr. Vrettos Sklavos and Mr. Efstathios Faros. The municipal party was represented by its leader and municipal councillor Mr. Nikolaos Magoulas, and the municipal councillors Mr. Georgilas Paraskevas and Mr. Chrysafitis Nikolaos.
The discussion highlighted the huge lack of strategic planning over time in the field of tourism on the part of the municipal authorities. Although tourism is a key component of the economy of Kythera, it remains in an embryonic state and its development is based on individual private initiatives. The Municipality's tourism committee has no power and its role is clearly decorative and advisory. The promotion of our tourism product (a product whose exact identity has not yet been defined) is characterised by amateurism, fragmentary moves, without data and measurable results. The participation of our Municipality in tourism exhibitions is characterised by a lack of targeted selection in terms of quality but the quantity of visitors we want to attract to Kythera (a typical example of failure is the participation in the Polish exhibition). It is characterised by a lack of vision to open the market in seasons other than summer. Antikythera, although it could be a theme for a highly sophisticated public, is unfortunately absent everywhere.
All participants in the discussion agreed on the following proposals to the municipal authority:
1. Immediate Assignment of duties related to the tourism product to one of the 4 Deputy Mayors of the Municipality of Kythera and in the future the creation of a Deputy Mayor of Tourism
2. Establishment of a Tourism Committee as a Legal Entity under Public Law that will be responsible for the organization, management and enhancement of the tourist product of our islands.».
