OUT OF nearly one million trips taken from Cyprus last year, 60 per cent were holidays, with Greece still being the main destination for Cypriot tourists, the Association of Cyprus Travel Agents (ACTA) said yesterday.
At a news conference to announce this year’s annual ‘Taxidi 2007’, ACTA chairman Akis Kelepeshis said 55 exhibitors, including travel agents, airlines and foreign hotel owners would participate in the this 10th exhibition at the State Fair.
“The exhibition has a dual purpose,” said Kelepeshis. “On the one hand it informs the travelling public about offers that are available to them and on the other it is used by exhibitors to determine trends so that they can readjust their programmes to new choices and preferences”.
Some 12,000 visitors are expected to attend Taxidi 2007 from April 27-29.
Kelepeshis said Cypriots continued to travel widely in 2006. There were in total 932,000 trips taken out of the island of which 600,000 were clearly for holidays.
Around 400,000 from the total number of trips were taken to Greece and 260,000 of those were holidays, Kelepeshis said.
He also said long-haul destinations were still popular as were Eastern and Central Europe plus countries neighbouring Cyprus.
“The list of destinations is continuously growing,” said Kelepeshis.
Revenue from outgoing tourism was £330 million in 2005, the latest figure available.
Kelepeshis said in the last five to six years Cypriots started to make up their own holiday packages from the internet.
“Year after year this number is growing,” he said.
Asked about the recent and future increases in airport charges per passenger, Kelepeshis said any increase in charges was an unwelcome development especially when there was an increasing movement towards going abroad.
But he said he did not think outgoing tourism would be hugely affected.
“Cyprus is an island and people have to go by plane or by ship,” he said. “But of course any increase is a negative development. There is a lot of opposition from European tour operators and the effects of this will be noticeable”.
Airport taxes definitely contribute to the problem,” said Thassos Katsourides the general manager of ACTA. “We have studied the issue in depth and things will be very difficult for 2007”.
ACTA also took issue with the delays in the CTO’s strategic plan citing the length of time it was taking to implement it. Katsourides said it began as a one-year plan from 2000-2010.
“Nothing was done until 2003,” he said. “Then it became a new plan for seven years,” he said referring to a revamping of the blueprint that year.
Last summer it was decided to look at the plan again and CTO brought in Irish experts to point out some weaknesses and come up with solutions. The new version of the plan is still pending.
n Taxidi 2007 will be open from 5pm-10.30pm on Friday April 27, on Saturday April 28 from 4pm to 10.30pm and on Sunday April 29 from 10am-1pm and from 4pm to 10.30pm.
