TOUR OPERATORS said yesterday they were hoping Cypriots would continue to travel this year despite the financial crisis but the feeling was they would opt for cheaper packages.
The chairman of the Association of Cypriot Travel Agents (ACTA) Victor Mantovani told a news conference at the launch of this year travel fair TAXIDI 2009: “It is normal in times of a financial crisis that people choose cheaper destinations and cheaper packages. Cypriots will continue to travel at home and abroad despite the economic crisis given the attractive offers by Cypriot tour operators”.
According to the ACTA Chairman, in the first two months of 2009 there was a 5.7 per cent decrease in travel abroad in January and an 8.4 per cent drop in February. He said it looked as if March and April would also drop between five and ten per cent. But Mantovani said travel agents expected things to pick up towards summer.
Thasos Katsourides the Executive Director of ACTA, said Cypriots tended to book their holidays right after the Kataklysmos weekend in June.
“We urge them to book early so they can benefit from the available offers,” he said.
Mantovani added: “Unlike Britons who tend to travel in small numbers and prefer last minute booking, Cypriots should book early because they tend to travel with their families and if they leave it for the last minute they might not find what they want.”
He said that Cypriots had more choice this year as hotels abroad had given much better prices than in previous years.
This year’s TAXIDI exhibition, will be the 12th and it constitutes the ideal forum where the Cypriot traveller can obtain valuable and comprehensive information on tourist destinations and travel packages.
“The exhibition serves a reciprocal purpose. On the one hand, it provides information to the travelling public on available packages as well as assistance in exploring their options. At the same time, the participants use the exhibition to learn about the public’s wishes and record travel trends in order to revise their packages accordingly and meet new needs and preferences,” said Mantovani.
“Cypriots are great fans of travelling abroad for holidays and the available statistical data proves that this trend remains strong despite any adversity”.
According to the data from the Statistical Office of the Finance Ministry, last year 1.2 million people travelled from Cyprus of which 792,831 went abroad on holiday, an increase of 12 per cent.
Greece remained the favourite travel destination for Cypriots in 2008 with 446,832 trips of which 301,681 were for holiday purposes. The second favourite destination was the United Kingdom with 246,211 trips abroad of which 164,870 of them were for holiday purposes.
As for the tourists coming to Cyprus, Mantovani estimated that there would be a drop of approximately 10-15 per cent. Mantovanis clearly stated that there were no cancellations as regards to the swine flu so far because “it is too early”. According to Constandinos Kakkouras, Managing Director at Top Kinisis Travel, “There might be a delay in reservations until the situation with the swine flu clears up”
Mantovani said there was an increase in arrivals from Russia but: “We should not expect to see miracles from the Russian market this year because Russia is facing an enormous economic problem”.
The TAXIDI exhibition will bring together 54 exhibitors and will be open from Friday May 1 to Sunday May 3 at the State Fair grounds. The ‘Country of Honour’ this year in Romania.
