North Cyprus tourism looks bleak in 2008

Northern Cyprus to open a tourist office in South Korea in hopes of spurring tourism. With hotels closing their doors readily, and the decline in jobs, the market looks bleak.

In an effort to spur additional tourism funds, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus will open a tourism related office in Seoul, the capital of South Korea. The goal is to spur additional tourism interest into new markets in the hope of drawing people to the country losing tourism funds quickly.

The North Cyprus office signed papers with the Ministry of Economy and Tourism with Parados Europe Company, which is a facility in South Korea operating there. Minister of Economy and Tourism, Erdogan Sanlidag said the goal of opening such an office was to promote Northern Cyprus.

In reports in the last week, some 24 hotels have been shut down in Northern Cyprus. Additionally, some 2,000 jobs have been lost over the last two months, spurring trouble for both the tourism market and the property market which is heavily based on tourism here. It is estimated that 50 or more hotels will close for good in 2008.

Currently, the property market in Cyprus looks bleak as empty villas line the streets and once large and profitable property projects are left without being fully built. Effected by the market slip includes the economy, which has seen an incredible loss of employment opportunities, the construction market which has been hurt by the sheer stop in projects as well as the property market as properties remain vacant around the large tourism drawn cities.

According to Ayse Donmzer, who is the former economic minister and financial consultant, "The Annan plan led to a boom in construction, and the construction boom led to a boom in related sectors. However, those who made money out of the boom kept reinvesting in more property, and kept very little cash in reserve." Soon, the supply of property far outweighed demand. In addition, many investors were new to the business, compounding the problem.

Much here is compounded by political problems throughout the country.