My Project of Final Year

8/9/2019 My Project of Final Year

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THE EFFECTIVENESS OF

INTERNET MARKETING

STRATEGIES USE BY

CYPRUS TOURISM

ORGANISATION

By

Eva M Padrn Jorge Reg. No 201005031

Marta Stachowska Reg. No 201008016

Md.Yeasin Reg. No 200603943


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TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. INTRODUCTIONa. Research area

b. Research interest

c. Research questions

d. Research value

2. LITERATURE REVIEW

a. What is e-commerce?

b. Strengths of e-commerce marketing strategies

c. Weaknesses of e-commerce marketing strategies

d. Current situation of e-commerce marketing strategies in Cyprus

3. METHODOLOGY

a. Data collection

b. Data analysis

4. FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS

Question 1: what are the strengths of e-commerce strategies used by the CTO?

Question 2: what are the weaknesses of e-commerce strategies used by the

CTO?

Question 3: What can be done to improve Internet marketing strategies of CTO?

Question 4: Which ideas of Internet marketing strategies of other countries

(Spain and Poland) can the CTO use in the future?

5. CONCLUSIONS

6. BIBLIOGRAPHY


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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:

First of all, we would like to thank Mr. Nicos Nicolaou for his great teaching skills the

subject Final Year Project.

We also have to mention his help in writing this assignment. Moreover, we personally

appreciate his kind consideration of giving some extra time.

Thanks are also owned to some students and hotelier for executive help regarding this

project.


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1. INTRODUCTION

a. Research area

Nowadays the Internet is the most common medium of communication all over

the world. It has also become one of the most significant tools of marketing used

by companies. For this reason it plays a key role in marketing strategies used by

Tourism Organizations, including the CTO.

What is more, the tourism industry has specific features that explain its

importance for economic (regional) development and its inclination toward IT

systems and e-marketing technology. In addition, tourism greatly influences

regional development, social, economic and demographic environment and with

major changes taking place in international tourism, with tourist/customer

behavior changing continuously as the type and duration of holidaytaking

changes, competition is growing faster than the pool of tourists.

Today, tourism is the largest industry in the world, in particular, to small islands

or countries like Cyprus that sustain large percentages of their national economy

on this industry. Table 1 shows tourism industry sector contributes almost the

half of the total economy in Cyprus.

Source: CTO

b. Research interest

We have chosen the topic of Internet marketing strategies used by the CTO,

since we believe that Cyprus has an enormous touristic potential. This potential,

6%

24%

24%

46%

Distribution of income

Agriculture

Financial

Construction

Tourism


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to our minds, should be more exposed in the website of CTO and more effort

should be put in promoting it in order to attract more visitors, not only from

Europe, but form the whole world.

The tourism domain is an excellent example of the trend towards personalized

services and a complex marketing mechanism and it reflects customers

becoming a part of product creation. It should also be noted that, a number of

non-IT/technology related issues with regards to the tourism market and its

customers, such as:

Dynamic market and network structures,

Pricing and market design,

Designing and experimenting business models,

User decision modelling and usage analysis

Should be taken into consideration in order to meet the challenges and explore

the opportunities as well as to improve e-arketability and capture the clear

benefits of e-arketing, such as, overall customer-lifetime value orientation,

customer dictates, selling process customization, interactive/information-

enriched solutions, continuous customer interaction and customer expectations

set by customers experience across the market.

The primary tool of growth and profitability for the tourism industry in Cyprus

will be the effectiveness of the marketing system CTO puts into place to support

e-arketing and existing channels.

c. Research questions

Question 1: what are the strengths of e-commerce strategies used by the CTO?

Question 2: what are the weaknesses of e-commerce strategies used by the

CTO?

Question 3: What can be done to improve Internet marketing strategies of CTO?


(Spain and Poland) can the CTO use in the future?

d. Research value


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Our study will not only help other researchers expand their knowledge on e-

commerce and the advantages and disadvantages of this marketing tool but it

will also bring a broad insight in marketing strategies used by the CTO to attract

visitors. It will include as well a genuine and relevant assessment of them and

what is more their effectiveness in promoting Cyprus Hospitality, their strengths

and weaknesses product will be discussed.

Our project may help hospitality industry and tourism in Cyprus in improving

Internet marketing strategies by giving new ideas and advice of e-marketing

strategies used by another country, very successful in that field of industry -

Spain. The analysis and comparison between Cyprus and Spain, which both are

Mediterranean holiday destination is, in our opinion, an opportunity to modify

approach of Cyprus regarding e-marketing strategies and change them for better.

2. LITERATURE REVIEW

a) What is e-commerce?

Philip Kotler claims that electronic commerce ( e-commerce) is a general term

for purchasing, selling and exchanging of goods and services over computer

networks (such as the Internet) through which transactions or terms of sale are

performed electronically. He also states that electronic markets are market

spaces, rather than physical marketplaces, in which sellers offer their

products and services electronically, and buyers search for information, identify

what they want, and place orders using a credit card or other electronic payment.

A little different approach is presented by Anna S. Mattila, who defines

electronic commerce as a way of doing real-time business transactions via

telecommunications networks, when the customer and the merchant are in

different geographical places. She also indicates that e-commerce is a broad

concept that includes virtual browsing of goods on sale, selection of goods to

buy, and payment methods. Electronic commerce operates on a bona fide basis,

without prior arrangements between customers and merchants. E-commerce

operates via the Internet using all or any combination of technologies designed

to exchange data (such as EDI or e-mail), to access data (such as shared


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databases or electronic bulletin boards), and to capture data (through the use of

bar coding and magnetic or optical character readers).

Terminology used in E-Commerce

Buyers - these are people with money who want to purchase a good or

service.

Sellers - these are the people who offer goods and services to buyers. Sellers

are generally recognized in two different forms: retailers who sell directly to

consumers and wholesalers or distributors who sell to retailers and other

businesses.

Producers - these are the people who create the products and services that

sellers offer to buyers. A producer is always, by necessity, a seller as well.

The producer sells the products produced to wholesalers, retailers or directly

to the consumer.

Marketing Strategies of ecommerce:

Search Engine Placement

Viral Marketing

Search Engine Placement

Have a unique product

Offer good content and features

Get listed in regional and industry directories

Include address / phone #

Buy traffic

Top 3 Search Engine

Google

Yahoo

MSN

How Search Engine finds any website

1. Search engine Spider or Crawler visits your site

2. Or you can register at search engines


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3. Your site information is added to the search engine index

4. Search engine software finds your site in their index

Other marketing strategies of e-Commerce

Linking business leads and customers to the company through its presence

on the internet:

- Website,

- Directories,

- Industry portals.

Advertising online:

- e-mail marketing,

- Newsletters,

- Online polls.

Gaining visibility.

Online Advertising

Offer based e-mails

Newsletters

Opinion Polls

Catalog requests

Dynamic, interactive and inexpensive!

Viral Marketing: Viral Marketing Communications provides professional

Internet marketing, web design and development, and search engine

optimization to clients ranging from small businesses to divisions of major

corporations.

b) Strengths of e-commerce marketing strategies

Ecommerce allows people to carry out businesses without the barriers of time or

distance. One can log on to the Internet at any point of time, be it day or night

and purchase or sell anything one desires at a single click of the mouse.


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The direct cost-of-sale for an order taken from a web site is lower than through

traditional means (retail, paper based), as there is no human interaction during

the on-line electronic purchase order process. Also, electronic selling virtually

eliminates processing errors, as well as being faster and more convenient for the

visitor.

Ecommerce is ideal for niche products. Customers for such products are usually

few.

But in the vast market place i.e. the Internet, even niche products could generate

viable volumes.

Another important benefit of Ecommerce is that it is the cheapest means of

doing business.

The day-to-day pressures of the marketplace have played their part in reducing

the opportunities for companies to invest in improving their competitive

position. A mature market, increased competitions have all reduced the amount

of money available to invest. If the selling price cannot be increased and the

manufactured cost cannot be decreased then the difference can be in the way the

business is carried out. Ecommerce has provided the solution by decimating the

costs, which are incurred.

From the buyers perspective also ecommerce offers a lot of tangible

advantages:

Reduction in buyers sorting out time.

Better buyer decisions

Less time is spent in resolving invoice and order discrepancies.

Increased opportunities for buying alternative products.

The strategic benefit of making a business ecommerce enabled, is that it helps

reduce the delivery time, labour cost and the cost incurred in the following

areas:

Document preparation


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Error detection and correction

Reconciliation

Mail preparation

Telephone calling

Data entry

Overtime

Supervision expenses

Operational benefits of e commerce include reducing both the time and

personnel required to complete business processes, and reducing strain on other

resources. Its because of all these advantages that one can harness the power of

ecommerce and convert a business to e-business by using powerful turnkey

ecommerce solutions made available by e-business solution providers.

c) Weaknesses of e-commerce marketing strategies

One important weakness of e-commerce is that the Internet has still not touched

the lives of a great number of people, either due to the lack of knowledge or

trust. A large number of people do not use the Internet for any kind of financialtransaction. Some people simply refuse to trust the authenticity of completely

impersonal business transactions, as in the case of e-commerce. Many people

have reservations regarding the requirement to disclose personal and private

information for security concerns. Many times, the legitimacy and authenticity

of different e-commerce sites have also been questioned.

Another limitation of e-commerce is that it is not suitable for perishable

commodities like food items. People prefer to shop in the conventional way than

to use e-commerce for purchasing food products. So e-commerce is not suitable

for such business sectors. The time period required for delivering physical

products can also be quite significant in case of e-commerce. A lot of phone

calls and e-mails may be required till you get your desired products. However,

returning the product and getting a refund can be even more troublesome and

time consuming than purchasing, in case if you are not satisfied with a particular

product.


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Thus, on evaluating the various pros and cons of electronic commerce, we can

say that the advantages of e-commerce have the potential to outweigh the

disadvantages. A proper strategy to address the technical issues and to build up

customers trust in the system, can change the present scenario and help e-

commerce adapt to the changing needs of the world.

Despite these challenges, companies large and small are quickly integrating

online marketing into their marketing mixes. As is continues to grow, online

marketing is a powerful tool for building customer relationship, improving sales,

communicating company and product information, and delivering products and

services more efficiently and effectively.

d) Current situation of e-commerce marketing strategies in Cyprus

To give broader insight in usage of Internet and e-commerce in Cyprus, below

statistics are presented. In May, 2005 - Internet usage by Cypriots is below the

European Union average, and businesses on the island are also lagging behind,

according to figures released by Eurostats. Based on figures for the first quarter

of 2004, Eurostat says 32 percent of Cypriots between 16 and 74 years use the

Internet while the EU average is at 47 per cent. Eighty-two percent of Cypriot

businesses use the Internet, among the lowest EU level, which is on average 89

percent.

In Cyprus the internet is used more by men, with 36 per cent, as opposed to 28

per cent among women, a trend that exists throughout the EU member states

with the exception of Finland and Estonia. It comes as no surprise that it is more

popular among youngsters. An average of 75 per cent or two thirds of people

aged 16 to 24 used the internet.

November 15, 2006 - Internet e-commerce is still small in Cyprus. Only 7% of

Cypriot enterprises that use the internet actually accepted orders via the internet

in 2006, although this was higher than the 5.1% reported in 2005 according to

the annual Information and Communication Technologies Usage and E-

Commerce in Enterprises survey.


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At the same time, a parallel household survey found that only 6.7% of

individuals ordered products over the internet, although this was higher than the

5.1% recorded in 2005. These individuals ordered mainly books, magazines,

newspapers and e-Learning material.

Regarding e-Government, businesses are interacting more with the government

online. Business using the Internet for interaction with public authorities (mainly

obtaining information) increased from 39.5% in 2005 to 44.3% in 2006.

In general, computer and internet usage in business is widespread: 94.5% of

enterprises used a computer in January 2006. Among small enterprises of 10-49

employees (which is around 95% of all enterprises in Cyprus) there was an

increase in computer usage from 92.8% in 2005 to 93.6% in 2006, as well as in

internet usage, from 82.1% in 2005 to 83.7% in 2006.

The survey on households found a significant increase (from a very low base) in

Internet broadband connections, from 4.5% in 2005 to 12.1% in 2006, while the

proportion with any kind of internet access from home rose from 31.7% to

36.7%.

The total percentage of households with a computer was 51.9% in 2006, while

40.9% of individuals aged 16-74 used a computer and 33.8% used the Internet

during the first quarter of 2006.

3. METHODOLOGY

Research is ongoing process, which is continues and changing. The purpose of

this study is to identify how effectiveness of internet marketing strategies uses

by Cyprus Tourism Organization.

The objective of research area:

Current Web Marketing System of Cyprus.

CTOs E-Marketing Overviews.

To identify whether Cyprus has the potential and necessary

characteristics to attract the internet marketing.


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This chapter begins with an analysis of the importance of secondary and primary

data then explains why both of them were used and in which way. Finally, some

limitations that the researchers faced were discussed.

Secondary Data Collection:

As Churchill (1991) mentioned, first attempts at data collection should logically

focus on secondary data. Secondary data are statistics/information not gathered

for the immediate study at hand but for other purposes (Churchill, 1991;

Malhorta, 1993). Secondary data are easily accessible, relatively inexpensive,

and quickly obtained (Clark ET. Al. 1998; Veal, 1991). On the other hand,

because secondary data have been collected for other than the study at hand,

their usefulness to the current situation may be limited in many important ways,

including relevancy and accuracy (Clark et. al. 1998; Malhotra, 1993; veal,

1991).

For this project secondary data is in the following

The annual reports of Cyprus Tourism Organization (CTO).

Strategic plan for tourism by CTO

The Federal government

Material published by Ioannis Pantelidis (London Metropolitan

University) and Mariana Sigala, The presentation of E-tourism; the

Cyprus Tourism Organizations Action Plan by Phoebe Katsouris.

Books on E-commerce and Tourism

Websites of Spain and Poland to compare

State government

Statistic agencies

Trade association

General business publication

Magazine and newspaper

Annual report

Academic publications

Library sources

Computerized publication


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World wide website.

Primary Data Collection

Primary research involves the collection of original data using an accepted

research methodology. Primary data are data originated by the researcher for the

specific purpose of addressing the research problem (Malhotra, 1993). The

process of collecting primary data is individual tailored, the cost is high, and the

collecting time is long.

Since the project sought to explore the current situation in Cyprus in terms of

internet marketing strategy development, the primary information obtained was

quantitative. In the research, questionnaire survey was used, which involves the

gathering of information from individuals using a formally designed schedule of

questions called a questionnaire or interview schedule.

The questionnaire surveys were included is in the following:

Objective results

Complex information in easy understood form

Providing opportunity to study change over time, using

comparable methodology

Ensuring that a complete picture of a persons patterns of

participation is obtained

Analyzing data: The main secondary data were obtained mainly from CTO

(Cyprus Tourism Organization).

Internet marketing strategy of CTO is a crucial turning point of its development

as because of thus far Cyprus has discovered mass tourism destination around

the world with extreme and lovely atmosphere. The hospitality products and

services are similar standard with comparison other European country for

instance UK, Spain, Poland, Greece. Based on the results of the overall analysis

done and the supporting technology related projects, within the context of its

vision for e-Marketing CTO should be transformed into a knowledge

organization and a knowledge hub for the tourism industry as a whole, the

tourists and its employees and CTO should increase its internal as well as


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external communications and become more and more interactive through e-

channel optimization.

4. FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS

Question 1: What are the strengths of e-commerce strategies used by the

CTO?

Answer: Tourism greatly influences regional development, social, economic and

demographic environment and with major changes taking place in international

tourism. Competition is growing faster than the pool of tourists. Solid e-

commerce mechanism in tourism sectors only can provide competitive

advantages to a country. The Cyprus current CTO adopted e-commerce

provides the following advantage:

CTO e-commencer enables web product promotion through its portal.

Web customer communications becomes easier by the e-commerce than

before.

Online Web base booking (e-booking) that is provide directly through the

web portal of CTO make it more convenient for the tourist by its web portal

Internet sector has any significant degree of competition in Cyprus mean lots

of ISP exist in the market which is good sign for the e-commerce business of

CTO.

E-commerce enables tourist to get enormous banking facilities as such as

trnsfer monet between one accounts to another, credit card, visa card etc on

the basis of the e-commerce structure in Cyprus.

Question 2: What are the weaknesses of e-commerce strategies used by the

CTO?

Answer: In order to reduce the weakness of E-commerce the CTO has taken

some major steps to improve IT system and e-commerce technologies. Those

are the identification of some weakness of e-commerce of CTO in Cyprus is as

follows:

The primary tools to growth and make profitability in the tourism sector in

Cyprus needs a holistic approach in terms of exploration/exploitation of e-

Marketing opportunities. CTO currently dose not has any holistic approach to


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apply in terms of exploration/exploitation of e-Marketing opportunities. It means

that CTO should address not only strategic opportunities but process

opportunities to create a more effective, stable and sustainable business

infrastructure

To support the goal of e-Marketing strategy, creates market demands and

generates new business opportunities CTO needs to establishing new channels,

create new values, extending boundaries, establish CTO, as the Center of

excellence for guidance, market rules setting and information dissemination and

Provide the capability for individuals to plan and manage their own program but

also to e-mediaries to excel through the e-marketing support capabilities whichs

CTO dose not has yet.

CTO currently dose not have nay solid e-marketing frame work to communicate

the e-marketing related critical areas with a clear focus as such as website,

intranet, e-Branding, e-Trading and info kiosks. Thus CTO can not communicate

information regarding the critical areas to the international tourist.

CTO can not provide the minimum information to the tourist through the web

portal to facilitate the e-commerce business as such as road finder map, contact

info, weather report, company information and exchange etc.

Question 3: What can be done to improve Internet marketing strategies of

CTO?

Strategic action plan for the implementation of e-marketing in CTO:

Strategic action plan for the implementation of E-Marketing is shown by the

following diagram.


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E-Marketing Manager Responsible for developing and implementing broad range

activities in the e-Marketing function. Responsible for market research, competitive

analysis, acquisition opportunities, product development and business opportunities.

Liaises with CTOs Marketing Unit and other departments and managers when

appropriate.

IT Officer: Directs and controls the IT for the e-Marketing unit, including systems

development, operation and support of the infrastructure in support of e-Marketing

business objectives. Responsible for the data and system administration. Liaises with

users play a key role in setting IT strategy.

Tourist Officer (e-Marketing): Overall control of the e-marketing operations and

functions. Develops and improves the Organisations image in e- marketing sector.

Tourist Officer (Content): Develops and improves content for e-Marketing needs.

Oversees all aspects of web content with emphasis on customer (web users)

preferences.

Assistant Marketing Officer(s): The generic marketing assistant role supports one or

several of the more specific functions within the e-Marketing unit.

Others factor which need to be considered in order to be improved internet

marketing strategies of CTO.

E-Booking system:

E-Marketing Unit

Tourist Officer

(E-Marketing)IT-Officer

Tourist Officer

(Content)

Assistant

Marketing

Officer


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An e-Booking system is an online web-based booking service that is provided

directly through the Web. At the same time, it enables hotels and other tourism

service-providers to accept instant and real-time reservations. The system can be

designed in order to manage all type of bookings, whether made directly by

tourists or through travel agents, tour operators, hotels or other tourism service-

providers. Hence, CTO will be able to act as an intermediary between tourists,

who would like to make on-line travel reservations and any tourism service-

provider who would like to promote its services/products. In this framework,

CTOs e-Booking system can either be seamlessly integrated into the existing

CTOs website or will function as a separate but dynamically driven website

using an ASP model. Another option for CTO is to become an affiliate member

with existing online travel service-providers in Cyprus without having to

proceed with the implementation of a separate or integrated e-Booking system.

Marketing Management Information System (MMIS):

Marketing Management system will provide CTOs executives with an

overview of the marketing disciplines and a framework that will present

marketing as a value creation process. Participants will learn how to evaluate

marketplace potential and risk from the perspective of the organizations unique

ability to develop and deliver information and services of meaningful tourist

value. The system should explore the principal concepts and tools of

contemporary marketing management, from market segmentation and service

positioning to the design of distribution channels and communications strategy,

in order to maximize the value delivered to tourists. CTOs executive team will

be in a better position to:

Analyze and understand tourists needs and personal behavior

Understand marketing program development and implementation

Comprehend their roles in a fully integrated, strategic marketing plan

Perceive how CTO captures value through marketing initiatives

Geographical Information System:

The use of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and the Internet has

changed the way organizations use geographic information, the processes of

accessing, sharing disseminating and analyzing data. The proposed GIS should


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be a visual and analytical tool that will help CTO to understand, visualize and

export its geographic information in interactive web-based maps via the Portal,

information kiosks, mobile devices, etc. and enable tourists to manage this

information interactively and analytically in order to plan and undertake a trip or

to make a potential decision. Using the system, CTO will be also able to

integrate tourism information, visualize complex scenarios, present powerful

ideas and derive effective solutions which would otherwise be impossible to

achieve.


(Spain) can the CTO use in the future?

In order to answer this question, it is a wise criteria comparing Cyprus with a

similar destination when it comes to marketing strategies used. With this goal,

we have chosen the Canary Islands, as far as we can find several similarities

between them:

First of all, we are talking about islands, which mean certain of problems

because influences in prices and transportation; also they have a similar weather,

although the Canary Islands, due to them particular position in the Atlantic

Ocean, have a similar weather during the whole year; both are in the European

Union; and finally, it is also important pointing out that people characters and

food are similar.

When it comes to analyze how the tourist products are planned in the Canary

Islands, we can appreciate, just by looking in the following link,

http://www.turismodecanarias.com/islas-canarias-espana/ that they use a global

image Canary Islands and that they offer basically 4 different products: water

sports experience, wellness delight, volcanic experience and family welcome.

Water sports experience is focused on tourist that come to the islands to

practicing aquatic sports such as windsurfing, surf, sailing, kitesurfing, diving

and deep-sea fishing.
http://www.turismodecanarias.com/islas-canarias-espana/http://www.turismodecanarias.com/islas-canarias-espana/


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Wellness delight is designed for people who come to the islands to combine

relaxation, sport, health, good food and contact with the natural environment. So

the Canaries offer different fitness ideas, depending on the time of year in which

the tourists decide to visit the islands. For example, in summer clients can

choose between activities such as aqua-gym, Pilates and aerobics and in winter,

there is nordic / power walking or Tai Chi. Or for those looking for sports in

opened areas, the offering contains an enormous variety of activities such as

excursions, hiking and cycle routes to the most seductive destinations or hang

gliding.

Family welcome this option is for tourists who come to the archipelago looking

for a ample sun and beach offer combined with an endless list of activities

suitable for all ages and with a select range of accommodation equipped with

safe and modern infrastructures ideal for children.

Volcanic experience: finally here we find a list of activities that explode the

potential that the Canaries have when it comes to volcanic diversity; so mainly,

this product is related with the volcanic landscapes of the different islands; it

also combines the possibility of trying the local gastronomy, visiting cultivated

landscapes, vineyards, country paths mixed with accommodation in charming

establishments and the performance of extraordinary activities in the open air,

such as star gazing in the clear skies. It includes also sport activities like hiking,

paragliding, caving, climbing and ravines.

In this new page, the tourism ministry of the Canary Islands, being aware of the

importance that social networks and web sites as trip advisor or flicker have in

nowadays society (2.0.web in conclusion), has included in the page links where

people can see comments that other visitors have made about the destination or

the hotels attached with their personal pictures. Also the web page offers the

possibility of booking hotels through it.

Referring to promotion actions, the islands basically try to attract tourist from

the Nordic countries in winter, as far as the islands have a really kind winter ifwe compared it with the kind of weather that this target markets have to face


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when the winter arrives in their countries. This is one aspect that we can observe

in the last Promotion Campaign for the winter in the Canary Islands launched by

the Canary Tourism Ministry under the title Say No to WinterBlues (for

seeing the video, follow this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zG-

NFN1uCQ)

Until now, the campaigns have worked, actually Canary Islands peak period is

the winter one (from October to April), and during the rest of the year, the

common thing is to treat with national tourists basically looking for a close

destination with good weather in summer.

When it comes to analyze Cyprus Tourism Organization web page, we can find

several similarities if we compare it with the one that the Canary Tourism

Ministry created for the archipelago. The page is divided into:

Conference and incentives: product offer mainly to associations and

corporations that can find in Cyprus the perfect place for performing a meeting.

Sport and Leisure: form by an ample offer of water sports and mountain

activities.

Health and wellbeing: an offer focus on the variety of spa establishments

that we can find around the island together with the offer of healthy sports like

Pilates, fitness

Weddings and Honeymoons: a product designed for this specific target

market which usually looks for high quality of services and the most exclusive

hotels.

Rural and Nature: a product for nature, photography or painting lovers

performing activities in opened spaces.

Golf: product for golfers it includes visits to clubhouses for practicing

facilities and carry out individual lessons. Product that wants to attract as well

the spouses and family of the players.

Cruises and Learning: a product for people who visit the island by cruise

ships and that are interested in sightseeing activities which will allow them to
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zG-NFN1uCQhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zG-NFN1uCQhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zG-NFN1uCQhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zG-NFN1uCQ


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know more about the beauties of Cyprus during the short period of time that

they usually spend in the island.

Each of these options offer the possibility of booking those services attending to

visitors needs and also it contents an e-brochure with information referring to

each of the products that we pointed out above. Also it offers the possibility of

using 2.0 web tools such as twitter, Facebook, or sharing videos with other users.

Also, as the Canary Islands, they have created a profile on Facebook where

people can join and be informed about important events that will have place in

the island.

As we can see, the page has a good structure and all the offers are related with

the kind of tourists that they want to attract; however, Cyprus is facing a

decrease in the number of visitors year by year, which means that although they

have the necessary resources to become a popular destination, public

organizations are not able to understand the real needs of consumers and satisfy

them properly. From our point of view, it seems that promotion actions are not

causing effect on the target markets. This is the last video that under the slogan

I love Cyprus tries to attract visitors: http://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=WQBonGR8Was.

Here we can see that the video precisely tries to show the others possibilities

that the island offers to the visitants like cycling, promenades, sightseeing and of

course, the sun and beach offer. But people are still coming to Cyprus to enjoy

the typical sun and beach.

In the following video which was recorded at the end of the year 2007,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOHBSxNJvXU, a representative of the CTO is

talking about why Cyprus is an attractive destination for tourists, especially for

British ones, (the strengths of Cyprus as a destination); future plans that were

going to be performed to improve the destinations facilities in the following 2

and 3 years and what objectives that they would like to reach with the following

promotion campaigns. Now we will break down those aspects:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQBonGR8Washttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQBonGR8Washttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQBonGR8Washttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOHBSxNJvXUhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQBonGR8Washttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQBonGR8Washttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOHBSxNJvXU


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Strengths of Cyprus as a destination mentioned in the video (especially

attractive for British segment)

- Good weather during the whole year

- Language facilities: people speak English and all signs and indicators are

in this language

- Driving on the left side of the road

- People have a friendly character

- The island has the most clean bathing waters of Europe

- Good infrastructure: resorts and beaches with a good level of comfort,

cycling roads and coastal promenades

Objectives mentioned in the video that the new campaigns will try to reach

in the next years.

In this video the representative from the CTO also was high lighting some of the

objectives that they are trying to reach through new marketing actions:

First of all the CTO is trying to attract tourist during the whole year, not only in

summer (June, July and August), pointing out that Cyprus is a crowded

destination during this months and that it has more to offer that just sun and

beach, for example, she mentioned that the island can offer a big variety of

experiences like spa offers, trips in the forests, sightseeing in the cities in order

to promote cultural value or cycling.

In the video, the interviewer asked about the number of visitors expected for

2010 and his concerned about the environmental impacts that this number of

visitors can cause in the island; for facing this question she mentioned that the

Cypriot government is trying to invest in green products and that establishments

are applying for green certifications

But in this video, specifically in the last part, we can realize that most of the

objectives that the CTO planned to develop for the followings years have not

been carried out even now that we are in 2010; for example, she talked about

building a terminal in Paphos that should be finished in summer of 2008 which

is not even ready to be finished 3 years after; and also she was talking about

building more golf courses after talking about the environmental impacts that


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tourism cause in the island and the government policies to minimized those

aspects.

From the video we can see that from the CTOs side, an effort is being made to

transform the current image of the island into a new one that tries to emphasize

the other elements from the islands apart from what sun and beach have meant

during all these previous years. But for changing the situation, important actions

should be perform, promotion actions cant communicate a fake image of the

destination or tourist will be disappointed after their visit and they will never

come back again. If we are selling through promotion actions almost the

paradise, tourists will expect to find it; and problems with transportation (lack of

regular schedules for buses, bad conditions of roads and public transport

equipments, absence of adequate pedestrian roads) or problems with

infrastructures (accommodation establishments that dont reach the basic

standards of quality, public equipment such as bathrooms, change rooms or

showers in bad conditions, lack of adequate equipment for handicap people in

public spaces and also in private properties) are serious inconveniences that

can cause the lost of our clients.

So clearly there is a lack of communication between what the CTO pretends to

perform to reach the objectives and what the Government is ready to perform to

reach them. Cooperation between these organisms is the key for reaching the

proposed goals.

5. CONCLUSIONS

The following conclusions represent the researchers own beliefs. They

represent theoretical solution in the sense that they have not been tested in

practice, which means that it is not possible to determine whether they could be

successful or not. However, researchers believe that it is worth considering these

conclusions.

In our assignment, as states its topic, we tried to assess and judge the

effectiveness of internet marketing strategies used by Cyprus TourismOrganization. First of all, after giving a brief introduction regarding our


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research, readers were made familiar with basic information about the nature of

e-commerce, its pros and cons and also its current situation in Cyprus.

Methodology of our project is included to give an insight into sources we used

to create it. The most important part, which is a base for the conclusion of the

research, represents chapter 4 in which advantages and disadvantaged of e-

commerce strategies used by CTO are included, as well as, implementation plan

of improvements which could implemented and suggestions and new ideas taken

from e-commerce marketing strategies of Canary Islands. What our research

proves is that CTO developed so far a really good Web site, promoting the

island as an ideal holiday destination and the booking base is a great

convenience for tourists. It is also worth to mention that via the Web page CTO

may receive immediate feedback from potential visitors. On the other hand there

still exist fields, which CTO should take into consideration. The most important

is to implement a solid marketing campaign which highlights and gives more

attention to historical heritage of Cyprus. This would probably enable Cyprus to

be attractive not only for typical holiday makers, but also for more sophisticated

tastes. What we strongly recommend to CTO, is considering e-commerce

strategies used by Canary Islands. The biggest improvement can be made in

terms of diversify the offer; as a touristic destination, its necessary guarantee a

regular level of tourist during the whole year; for this, other kind of activities

can be offer in the island, it is not a good practice concentrate the offer only in

summer. Diversification is the key to face the lack of business during that period

of time when weather conditions do not allow tourists to enjoy the typical sun

and beach holidays.


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6. BIBLIOGRAPHY

http://www.thesportjournal.org/article/sports-tourism-cyprus-study-international-

visitors

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQBonGR8Was.

http://www.visitcyprus.com/wps/portal/accommodation/!

ut/p/c5/lc7BCsIwEATQL5LdrGlNjmlJTRMqYhVrLyUHkYBtPYjfb8SLRVTcPT6

GGWgh_uBv4eSvYRz8GRpo004XStUlJ8QqIyS9ziTXW5QVRT-8-

JIVOZJ0MiFiDMXivzTOMTrlhpsNupp-pPePtWmHH07h07-

tm_p7_8QFsyK6S6wlTkwQrMzYH-

HS7xoM5ewO55NlZg!!/dl3/d3/L2dJQSEvUUt3QS9ZQnZ3LzZfRUZBQVNJNDI

wT0M0NzAySEhEMjZVUDMwTzU!/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUrGBziDZo4&feature=related

www.ecommerceeducation.com

http://www.internetworldstats.com/eu/cy.htm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOHBSxNJvXU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zG-NFN1uCQ)

http://www.turismodecanarias.com/islas-canarias-espana/

www.ecommerceeducation.com


http://www.ecommerceeducation.com
http://www.thesportjournal.org/article/sports-tourism-cyprus-study-international-visitorshttp://www.thesportjournal.org/article/sports-tourism-cyprus-study-international-visitorshttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQBonGR8Washttp://www.visitcyprus.com/wps/portal/accommodation/!ut/p/c5/lc7BCsIwEATQL5LdrGlNjmlJTRMqYhVrLyUHkYBtPYjfb8SLRVTcPT6GGWgh_uBv4eSvYRz8GRpo004XStUlJ8QqIyS9ziTXW5QVRT-8-JIVOZJ0MiFiDMXivzTOMTrlhpsNupp-pPePtWmHH07h07-tm_p7_8QFsyK6S6wlTkwQrMzYH-HS7xoM5ewO55NlZg!!/dl3/d3/L2dJQSEvUUt3QS9ZQnZ3LzZfRUZBQVNJNDIwT0M0NzAySEhEMjZVUDMwTzU!/http://www.visitcyprus.com/wps/portal/accommodation/!ut/p/c5/lc7BCsIwEATQL5LdrGlNjmlJTRMqYhVrLyUHkYBtPYjfb8SLRVTcPT6GGWgh_uBv4eSvYRz8GRpo004XStUlJ8QqIyS9ziTXW5QVRT-8-JIVOZJ0MiFiDMXivzTOMTrlhpsNupp-pPePtWmHH07h07-tm_p7_8QFsyK6S6wlTkwQrMzYH-HS7xoM5ewO55NlZg!!/dl3/d3/L2dJQSEvUUt3QS9ZQnZ3LzZfRUZBQVNJNDIwT0M0NzAySEhEMjZVUDMwTzU!/http://www.visitcyprus.com/wps/portal/accommodation/!ut/p/c5/lc7BCsIwEATQL5LdrGlNjmlJTRMqYhVrLyUHkYBtPYjfb8SLRVTcPT6GGWgh_uBv4eSvYRz8GRpo004XStUlJ8QqIyS9ziTXW5QVRT-8-JIVOZJ0MiFiDMXivzTOMTrlhpsNupp-pPePtWmHH07h07-tm_p7_8QFsyK6S6wlTkwQrMzYH-HS7xoM5ewO55NlZg!!/dl3/d3/L2dJQSEvUUt3QS9ZQnZ3LzZfRUZBQVNJNDIwT0M0NzAySEhEMjZVUDMwTzU!/http://www.visitcyprus.com/wps/portal/accommodation/!ut/p/c5/lc7BCsIwEATQL5LdrGlNjmlJTRMqYhVrLyUHkYBtPYjfb8SLRVTcPT6GGWgh_uBv4eSvYRz8GRpo004XStUlJ8QqIyS9ziTXW5QVRT-8-JIVOZJ0MiFiDMXivzTOMTrlhpsNupp-pPePtWmHH07h07-tm_p7_8QFsyK6S6wlTkwQrMzYH-HS7xoM5ewO55NlZg!!/dl3/d3/L2dJQSEvUUt3QS9ZQnZ3LzZfRUZBQVNJNDIwT0M0NzAySEhEMjZVUDMwTzU!/http://www.visitcyprus.com/wps/portal/accommodation/!ut/p/c5/lc7BCsIwEATQL5LdrGlNjmlJTRMqYhVrLyUHkYBtPYjfb8SLRVTcPT6GGWgh_uBv4eSvYRz8GRpo004XStUlJ8QqIyS9ziTXW5QVRT-8-JIVOZJ0MiFiDMXivzTOMTrlhpsNupp-pPePtWmHH07h07-tm_p7_8QFsyK6S6wlTkwQrMzYH-HS7xoM5ewO55NlZg!!/dl3/d3/L2dJQSEvUUt3QS9ZQnZ3LzZfRUZBQVNJNDIwT0M0NzAySEhEMjZVUDMwTzU!/http://www.visitcyprus.com/wps/portal/accommodation/!ut/p/c5/lc7BCsIwEATQL5LdrGlNjmlJTRMqYhVrLyUHkYBtPYjfb8SLRVTcPT6GGWgh_uBv4eSvYRz8GRpo004XStUlJ8QqIyS9ziTXW5QVRT-8-JIVOZJ0MiFiDMXivzTOMTrlhpsNupp-pPePtWmHH07h07-tm_p7_8QFsyK6S6wlTkwQrMzYH-HS7xoM5ewO55NlZg!!/dl3/d3/L2dJQSEvUUt3QS9ZQnZ3LzZfRUZBQVNJNDIwT0M0NzAySEhEMjZVUDMwTzU!/http://www.visitcyprus.com/wps/portal/accommodation/!ut/p/c5/lc7BCsIwEATQL5LdrGlNjmlJTRMqYhVrLyUHkYBtPYjfb8SLRVTcPT6GGWgh_uBv4eSvYRz8GRpo004XStUlJ8QqIyS9ziTXW5QVRT-8-JIVOZJ0MiFiDMXivzTOMTrlhpsNupp-pPePtWmHH07h07-tm_p7_8QFsyK6S6wlTkwQrMzYH-HS7xoM5ewO55NlZg!!/dl3/d3/L2dJQSEvUUt3QS9ZQnZ3LzZfRUZBQVNJNDIwT0M0NzAySEhEMjZVUDMwTzU!/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUrGBziDZo4&feature=relatedhttp://www.ecommerceeducation.com/http://www.internetworldstats.com/eu/cy.htmhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOHBSxNJvXUhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zG-NFN1uCQhttp://www.turismodecanarias.com/islas-canarias-espana/http://www.ecommerceeducation.com/http://www.internetworldstats.com/eu/cy.htmhttp://www.ecommerceeducation.com/http://www.ecommerceeducation.com/http://www.thesportjournal.org/article/sports-tourism-cyprus-study-international-visitorshttp://www.thesportjournal.org/article/sports-tourism-cyprus-study-international-visitorshttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQBonGR8Washttp://www.visitcyprus.com/wps/portal/accommodation/!ut/p/c5/lc7BCsIwEATQL5LdrGlNjmlJTRMqYhVrLyUHkYBtPYjfb8SLRVTcPT6GGWgh_uBv4eSvYRz8GRpo004XStUlJ8QqIyS9ziTXW5QVRT-8-JIVOZJ0MiFiDMXivzTOMTrlhpsNupp-pPePtWmHH07h07-tm_p7_8QFsyK6S6wlTkwQrMzYH-HS7xoM5ewO55NlZg!!/dl3/d3/L2dJQSEvUUt3QS9ZQnZ3LzZfRUZBQVNJNDIwT0M0NzAySEhEMjZVUDMwTzU!/http://www.visitcyprus.com/wps/portal/accommodation/!ut/p/c5/lc7BCsIwEATQL5LdrGlNjmlJTRMqYhVrLyUHkYBtPYjfb8SLRVTcPT6GGWgh_uBv4eSvYRz8GRpo004XStUlJ8QqIyS9ziTXW5QVRT-8-JIVOZJ0MiFiDMXivzTOMTrlhpsNupp-pPePtWmHH07h07-tm_p7_8QFsyK6S6wlTkwQrMzYH-HS7xoM5ewO55NlZg!!/dl3/d3/L2dJQSEvUUt3QS9ZQnZ3LzZfRUZBQVNJNDIwT0M0NzAySEhEMjZVUDMwTzU!/http://www.visitcyprus.com/wps/portal/accommodation/!ut/p/c5/lc7BCsIwEATQL5LdrGlNjmlJTRMqYhVrLyUHkYBtPYjfb8SLRVTcPT6GGWgh_uBv4eSvYRz8GRpo004XStUlJ8QqIyS9ziTXW5QVRT-8-JIVOZJ0MiFiDMXivzTOMTrlhpsNupp-pPePtWmHH07h07-tm_p7_8QFsyK6S6wlTkwQrMzYH-HS7xoM5ewO55NlZg!!/dl3/d3/L2dJQSEvUUt3QS9ZQnZ3LzZfRUZBQVNJNDIwT0M0NzAySEhEMjZVUDMwTzU!/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUrGBziDZo4&feature=relatedhttp://www.ecommerceeducation.com/http://www.internetworldstats.com/eu/cy.htmhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOHBSxNJvXUhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zG-NFN1uCQhttp://www.turismodecanarias.com/islas-canarias-espana/http://www.ecommerceeducation.com/http://www.internetworldstats.com/eu/cy.htmhttp://www.ecommerceeducation.com/


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