Falling tourist arrivals

Sir,

I have read about the continuing downturn in visitor numbers.
Unfortunately, I see no end to this trend. We visit three or four times a year and have been looking to book flights for 2007. I was very disturbed at the ticket prices the airlines are looking to charge – extortionate in many cases. This must put a further block on the numbers of travellers.

Added to this is the exchange rate which makes Cyprus expensive. If the Cyprus pound gets locked into the euro at the current exchange rate then the island is in for difficult times. The government and tourist industry need to be very concerned.

Peter Chadwick
Broom, Warwickshire, UK

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.