The approved action plan prepared by the Inter-ministerial Committee for the gradual lifting of restriction measures to flights from and to the Airports of Larnaca and Paphos, and the reopening of Airports and Hotels provides for the reopening of airports and the reconnection of Cyprus with other countries in two phases, Phase A – 9 to 19 June and Phase B – 20 June 2020.

The team of special scientists has classified countries on the basis of their epidemiological image in two categories, with which the connection of Cyprus by air is resumed.

Category A: Greece, Malta, Bulgaria, Norway, Austria, Finland, Slovenia, Hungary, Israel, Denmark, Germany, Slovakia, Lithuania.
Category B: Switzerland, Poland, Romania, Croatia, Estonia, Czech Republic.

In Phase A, those coming from countries of both categories must present a laboratory test certificate from an approved laboratory showing a negative result in order to be allowed to board their flight, with the test having taken place 72 hours prior to departure.

Cypriot citizens and permanent residents of Cyprus may alternatively undergo the laboratory testing at their arrival in Cyprus. In this case and until the announcement of the result, they shall remain in self-isolation at home.

CNA reports that there will be five arrivals and five departures from Larnaca Airport, the first from Aegean airline which is scheduled to depart around 0800 to Athens.

The first flight to land at Larnaca International Airport by Israel, will arrive from Tel Aviv at 1015.

Minister of Transport, Communications and Works,  Yiannis Karousos will be present at the airport to welcome the first passengers who will arrive in Larnaca following the airport’s opening.

Two more flights will arrive from Athens at 12.10  and 18.10, another flight from Sofia at 18.20 and one more flight from Athens at 23.10.

As far as departures are concerned, at 1120 there will be a flight to Tel Aviv, at 1400 to Athens, at 1900 for Sofia and at 1930 for Athens.
 In Phase B, which begins on 20 June, passengers coming from countries included in category A will not be required to bring a laboratory test certificate.

For passengers coming from countries included in category B shall apply the same requirement as for all passengers in the first phase, that is, they have to present a laboratory test certificate from an approved laboratory showing a negative result in order to be allowed to board their flight, with the test having taken place 72 hours prior to departure.

Cypriot citizens and permanent residents of Cyprus may alternatively undergo the laboratory testing at their arrival in Cyprus. In this case and until the announcement of the result, they shall remain in self-isolation at home.

Source: CNA

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However, he concluded, it is important to understand the difficulty of the situation.

Source: CNA

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He added that the date on which Cyprus will open up as a destination will not necessarily be the same as the date when the first tourist arrives, as foreign markets may not be ready yet.

He also said that bookings will be set at the last minute this year and added that if some airlines or travel organizers have booked earlier, this should not be taken for granted because no one knows how things could turn out.

As for the possible tourist markets for Cyprus this year, as he said, there are some countries that seem to manage better than others the pandemic and probably their citizens want to travel in the summer. These countries are Germany, Scandinavian countries, Austria, Switzerland, Greece and Israel. Tourists from these countries, he said, appear to be able to travel earlier than other countries, but as he said, “no one knows yet”. Cyprus, he added, which was also successful in managing the pandemic, is a country that tourist see as a possible destination.

 However, he clarified that Cyprus would take into account scientific data proving that the country of origin has managed to control COVID-19, before accepting any tourists.

At the same time, he added that many hotels may choose to stay closed and some others may choose to open later in the summer, since operating costs will be increased due to some restrictions on how they will operate.

As for domestic tourism, Perdios said it could cover some of the losses, but to a small extent. He explained that until last year domestic tourism was around 6-7% of the tourism in Cyprus and with some actions by the Ministry of Interior, the contribution of domestic tourism could increase to 10-12% this year.

However, as Perdios said, Cypriot citizens could not replace almost 40 million overnight stays.

He also said that the Deputy Ministry will launch a targeted campaign in the direction of domestic tourism, while there will be subsidized holidays for social tourism, short getaways and organized excursions.

At the same time, he noted that he is aware of the fact the people of Cyprus will come from  a period of inactivity of two or three months which may have affected their incomes, while as he said, if Greece opens up, many Cypriots may choose it as a destination.

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Perdios said that Cyprus’ basic scenario provides for inflow of tourists to begin in July according to an extraordinary action plan drafted for this year.

In an interview with CNA, the Deputy Minister for Tourism said the base case scenario for 2020 provides for a drop of 60% or 1.5 million tourists, a reduction expected to be recovered in the next two or three years, adding that “changes to Cyprus’ national strategy for tourism are necessary if we want to achieve recovery next year.”

“If for whatever reason we will not be able to receive the first tourists in July and tourist inflow begins in August or September the action plan’s timeframes will be moved accordingly,” he said.

Perdios noted that all tourist stakeholders have been briefed on the 2020 action plan, which will be implemented on the condition that “if all goes well, we will be able to receive the first tourists in July.”

“Our basic advertising campaign both at home and abroad, which will begin in the end of May and run throughout June, is based on this condition,” he added.

Furthermore, Perdios said that due to the reduction of tourist inflow, following flight and tourist packages cancellations “it is imperative to broaden our horizons in the next two years with all those incorporated in our national strategy for tourism and to contemplate how to change our product with a view to broadening our markets and targets.”

“A big change in the next two years is that visitors will be more selective and hesitant in visiting tourist crowded destinations and we should change our mode of operation,” he stressed.

On the 2021 season, Perdios said “if we want to achieve recovery, we will be required to make the necessary changes in our tourist product so that we will be able to attract tourists from different age groups and nationalities as well as different forms of tourism.”

On domestic tourism, Perdios said starting from June, provided that containment measures are lifted, the Deputy Ministry will put in place a scheme for the support of social tourism for pensioners, persons with disabilities or vulnerable families in collaboration with the Ministry of Labour, Welfare and Social Insurance.

He furthermore said that a scheme for organised tours in various areas of Cyprus will begin in June, adding that the Deputy Ministry will bring back a subsidy scheme for “short escapes”, short tours for two or three days.

“These incentives aim to strengthen domestic tourism throughout Cyprus, including mountainous areas, rural areas and remote areas,” Perdios noted.

Perdios also said that the Deputy Ministry will beef up incentives for sport tourism, training camps, culture tourism and conference tourism, noting under normal circumstances these incentives would begin in October but will be expediated due to the extraordinary circumstances caused by the coronavirus outbreak.
Source: CNA

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Speaking to a press conference both InvestCyprus Chairman Michalis Michael and Director General George Campanellas stressed that the organization will place the attraction of investors in the tourism sector at the spotlight of its action plan in a bid to attract the “hundreds of millions in investment needed” in tourist infrastructure.

Apart from 5 million in tourist inflow by 2030, the National Strategy aims at boosting overnight stays in the winter months and quadrupling overnight stays in rural areas by 2030.

“We now where we want to go and we have placed this strategy in our programme and we will place investment in tourism in the first place during all our roadshows abroad,” Michael said.

Noting that tourism is not only “Sun and Sea”, Michael noted that InvestCyprus will promote thematic tourism such as sport tourism, religious tourism, health tourism and tourism in rural areas, noting that there is infrastructure in rural areas which is left untapped.

“We are certain that there is sustainability (in such investments) we just need to find the right investor” he added.

On his part, Campanellas pointed out that infrastructure projects to achieve the targets amount to “hundreds of millions of euros” in investments.

“Our aim is to attract the investment necessary so that these targets will be achieved,” he said, noting that the focus will be placed on thematic tourism.

Morever, Campanellas pointed out that synergies could be achieved with investment funds registered in Cyprus which enquire InvestCyprus where to invest their assets under management

In a bid to achieve the tourism targets for 2030, InvestCyprus will operate as One-Stop Shop providing information to potential investors over infrastructure projects and available investment opportunities, will organise on-site visits while in collaboration with property owners will create a project bank with all available investment opportunities on the island.

Furthermore, InvestCyprus has created a website located at www.touristinvestcyprus.org.cy.

Source: CNA

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On the basis of the results of the Passengers Survey, released by the Cyprus Statistical Service, arrivals of tourists reached 85,622 in January 2020 compared to 81,970 in January 2019, recording an increase of 4.5%.

January 2020 had the highest volume of tourist arrivals ever recorded in Cyprus during the specific month, the Statistical Service says.
Tourist arrivals from Israel increased by 58% in January 2020 compared to January 2019 while an increase of 91.9% was also recorded for tourists from Ukraine.

On the other hand, tourist arrivals from the UK, Greece and Russia recorded a drop. Specifically, 4.7% less tourists from the UK visited Cyprus, 18.1% less tourists arrived from Greece and 4.6% less tourists came from Russia this January compared to January last year.  

The United Kingdom constituted the main source of tourism for Cyprus in January 2020, with a proportion of 26.1%.  Arrivals from Israel comprise16% of total arrivals, from Greece 10.7% and from Russia 8.8%.

When asked the purpose of their visit, 57.6% of tourists participating in the survey said they were visiting the island on holiday, 22.9% were here to visit friends and relatives and for 19.2% were arriving in Cyprus for business.

More Cypriot residents travelled abroad this January
————–

On the basis of the results of the Passengers Survey, 134,507 residents of Cyprus returned from a trip abroad in January 2020 compared to 119,570 in the January 2019, recording an increase of 12.5%.

In January 2020 there was an increase of 10.2% in the trips of residents to Greece reaching 38,767 compared to 35,190 in January 2019 and an 8.1% increase to the United Kingdom  reaching 19,669 compared to 18,198 last year.

Source: CNA

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Perdios is currently in Moscow holding meetings in the framework of the Moscow International Travel & Tourism Exhibition.

In his statements to CNA, he noted that it seems that this year the tourist flow from Russia will be the same as last year, adding that this will give the tourist industry a boost compared to other markets from where indications are negative, as Germany and the UK.

He went on to say that arrivals from Russia were 800 thousand last year.

Moreover, Perdios said that Russian tour operators seem to be ready to invest, to a smaller extent, in winter tourist programmes. He also said that Russian tour operators have begun to represent other Russian speaking countries as Belarus, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, as well as Baltic countries.

As regards the British market, the Deputy Minister of Tourism said that they will be waiting to see developments on Brexit, adding that this issue is related to the exchange rate for the sterling.

This will be a difficult year, he added, noting however that we should focus on the opportunities.

Perdios also said that Cyprus should seek to attract tourists from other markets as well, and not only from traditional markets as the UK.

Source: Cyprusdaily

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