Priced out of Cyprus

Sir,
Last year my family chose to go to Athens for our holidays as it was much cheaper than Cyprus. We had a very good time, but we also felt that we should have been in Cyprus which is our second home and where are families are.

This year, we said we had to go to Cyprus so the children could see the family. I have been trying to get seats for Cyprus for the past two months at a reasonable price, but the cheapest any tourist operator will give me are £485 to £510 per person. How can these prices be justified for such a flight? I can go to Athens again with accommodation for £300, to Italy for £320, and people I know are going to Turkey for £239 with accommodation. Turkey’s tourism is booming and whoever goes there says what a great time they had. Is this what the Cyprus government wants? Cyprus is loosing its best tourists, people who were born in Cyprus and want to return with their families so that their children do not forget they are Greek Cypriots, but the greed of their country of birth is preventing this. 

If Cyprus wants its tourist industry to improve then it should show some respect to the people who have supported it for many years with fair and reasonable flight prices.
M. Koutsofta, London

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.