Pros and Cons of Tourism in Northern Cyprus

In the modern world, tourism plays an integral role in the economic development of a nation. As a result, almost all countries have developed different marketing strategies to attract the highest number of both foreign and local travelers to their diverse attraction sites to increase the economic potentials. As such, countries opt to choose strategic marketing techniques to create a brand image for their various destinations because they influence the choices of the consumers. Consequently, brand management depends on medium to long-term strategy and the brand’s objectives. According to Huang & Zhang (2010), destination image is “a mental representation in the collective memory of a stereotype or a set of attributes that can influence and change consumer behavior” (p. 1071). Subsequently, destination marketers have to adopt an open communication strategy with their market segments to protect the reputation and image of their attractions. Therefore, destination-marketing organizations (DMOs) analyze the perceived image according to the target market through brand image study. Further, they consider the weaknesses and strengths based on internal audits to create an image that the target market desires according to the DMO (Prayag, Hosany, Muskat & Del Chiappa, 2015). As such, destination marketers have to engage in extensive research and development to identify the needs of the target segment and thus create an image that would encourage more people to choose the attractions over their rivals.

Despite the small size of the Northern Cyprus country, it has several unrelated sites such as unique bays, cultural and historical sites, and geographical sites that make the destination attractive to a wide range of tourists. However, irrespective of the active general image of the Northern Cyprus, DMOs in the country have to maintain a preserved image to attract more visitors. Northern Cyprus targets consumers from mostly Turkey, Germany, and the United Kingdom; as such, DMOs in the country create destinations that meet the needs of people from these countries. Nevertheless, one of the positive attributes that attract visitors from the UK is the country's climate (Koutra & Karyopouli, 2013). In most tourist destinations, travelers expect to find both manmade and natural attractions. However, limited human influence in most of the country’s sites implies that the majority of attractions are natural. Therefore, the image holidaymakers have on their minds before embarking on journeys to visit Northern Cyprus is that of unaltered sites. On the same note, marketers promote such sites as original and free from human influence, which entices visitors to vacation. According to Farmaki, Altinay, Botterill & Hilke (2015), the development of ecotourism augments community involvement in branding, which attaches a given destination to a particular location because of cultural and historical attractions.

On the other hand, lack of public transport in most of the sites dissuades middle-class tourist from choosing Northern Cyprus as the destination of their choice. In reality, several historical sites require visitors to have access to private jets and vehicles to enhance their movement while on location (Atadil, Sirakaya-Turk & Altintas, 2015). However, some of the visitors cannot afford such luxuries, which reinforces negative grapevine thus, changing the positive perception of northern Cyprus as the perfect destination. Sex tourism in the country attracts thousands of visitors from different parts of the world. Many tourists expect to have memorable experiences with well-cultured sex workers at affordable rates. The government collaborates with tourism service providers to offer positive experiences for foreigners in both large and small hotels. As such, visitors affirm the perception of Northern Cyprus concerning sex tourism whenever they choose the country. In brief, the country has several unique attributes that enhance the positivist of its destinations in the minds of tourists thus attracting more visitors.