Coronavirus: Tourism deputy minister to revise tourist arrivals downwards

The deputy tourism ministry is revising tourist arrivals downwards for this year, as the epidemiological data in main tourist markets are leaving Cyprus out of their destinations, Deputy Tourism Minister Savvas Perdios said on Monday.

Perdios said the aim of attracting 25 per cent of last year’s arrivals is expected to be revised towards the end of the week, as his ministry continues its contacts with travel organisers.

Main markets, such as Britain, Russia, Israel and Sweden, which constituted 64 per cent of total tourist arrivals in 2019, are out of the game due to the pandemic, and the deputy ministry is now focusing on other countries, such as Belgium, France, The Netherlands, Lebanon and the Emirates.

Perdios said the upside of Cyprus’ good epidemiological image was that individual tourists are on the rise, with visits to the deputy ministry’s websites increasing by 400 per cent.

He pointed out, however, that transitioning from group bookings to attracting individual tourists could not happen overnight.

Perdios said domestic tourism was very important with most Cypriots expected to stay on the island this summer.

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.