Golf tourism: the case of Cyprus.

Abstract

This chapter takes on a major environmental issue by discussing the case of golf tourism in Cyprus. The overdependence of Cyprus on tourism, the decrease of tourist flows, and the recent economic crisis harming the Cypriot tourism sector are some of the major issues that have emerged as being in need of coping strategies. While Cyprus has been facing a water shortage for a number of years, the official tourism policy response aims to reposition the country in the global tourism market with the development of a number of world-class golf courses. This is inherently controversial, leading to strong disagreement between various parties. Although the construction of golf courses could be a solution for the economic recovery, there is no denying the potential ecological disaster resulting from this government policy decision. The chapter aims to discover different views on this issue based on recent data from different perspectives: tourism and environmental planning, marketing and policy, crisis management and sustainable development. Finally, it gives alternative solutions in order to harmonize any possible contradictions resulting from this strategy.

Impacts of the Global Economic Crisis on Cyprus Tourism and Policy Responses

“…Furthermore, the tourism policy in trying to effectively redress the problems of Cypriot tourism has adopted measures that focus mainly on the diversification of the tourism product. Among these measures were the: development of marine tourism, emphasis on sport tourism, creation of convention centres, improvement of hospitality operations, and golf tourism development (Archontides, 2007;Boukas, Boustras and Sinka, 2012). Despite the efforts, Cyprus currently struggles to deal with the negative consequences of the crisis, while remaining an expensive mass tourism destination.…”

Tourism policy and residents' well-being in Cyprus: Opportunities and challenges for developing an inside-out destination management approach

“…One the one hand, the contribution of mass tourism to islands' economic development and prosperity is recognised, but on the other hand, the negative impacts of this form of tourism such as monothematic development, seasonality, resource depletion, and crowdedness hinder the overall effort for reaching an equilibrium. Consequently, islands need to face problems such as climate change (Keener, 2013), seasonality , and scarcity of resources (Boukas, Boustras, & Sinka, 2012;Stathatou et al, 2015) while dealing with dependencies on the global economy and tourism (Sharpley, 2012). This raises challenges regarding the overall sustainable development of islands (Graci, 2013;Graci & Dodds, 2010;Jaafar & Maideen, 2012) and makes us wonder if it is realistic to discuss about sustainable tourism in the case of islands, where natural, social as well as economic resources, are limited.…”

“…Furthermore, an important social impact on islands is the pressure that tourist crowds cause to destinations because of the over-congestion in certain places, construction of infrastructure that damages natural resources, and the misuse of water (Gutiérrez, 2015;Rodríguez, López, & Estévez, 2008). Specifically, in the case of Cyprus, Boukas et al (2012) argue that in an effort of Cypriot tourism policy to construct several golf courses as a strategic response for redressing the high seasonality that the island faces, a series of contradictions were raised. Firstly, the usage of a significant amount of water for maintaining the golf courses was dramatically increased at the same time where water is many times scant in the dry Eastern Mediterranean climate of Cyprus, creating thus threats for the prosperity of the island's residents.…”

The Emergence of “Small-Scale” Sport Events in “Small Island” Developing States: Towards Creating Sustainable Outcomes for Island Communities

“…In addition, small island developing states suffer from a lack of economies of scale, high transportation, and communication costs, as well as costly range of residential coaching camps in elite competitive sports such as athletics, boxing, basketball, volleyball, and gymnastics, and sport events for the general population like golf, marathons, and cycling (Sugden, 2007). Conversely, Cyprus has invested mainly in golf, aspiring to become a reputable international golf destination (Boukas & Ziakas, 2013b) but without prudently planning for protecting its scarce natural resources (Boukas, Boustras, & Sinka, 2012). These examples demonstrate two overarching differences for sport event policy in small island developing states, which stem from their small size: on the one hand, small island states do not have large-scale bureaucratic structures and regional divisions, thereby facilitating the coordination of sport policies and event implementations, but on the other hand, they require small-scale interventions that safeguard their scarce resources.…”