The final “sum” of civil marriages for the Municipalities of Paphos province in 2021 will be reduced, the local authorities are discounting from now on. And this, they explain, since the reservations for the ceremonies were always made from the end of the previous year or the first months of the year of their performance. Today, however, with the situation still in quarantine levels across Europe, this process has not only not yet begun, but all indications are that the situation will take longer than governments and scientists expected to normalize.
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With these data, the officials of the Municipalities of Paphos and Pegeia stressed yesterday in “F”, the very profitable industry of performing civil weddings will not have the same positive results this year, even if in the second half of the year the tourist flow to Cyprus.
“The process is much more time consuming and complicated than the process of a simple tourist package for an excursion of a few days,” they said. “Therefore, the vast majority of those who intended to do their wedding ceremonies in Cyprus, we estimate that they will postpone them. “And those who finally proceed with the relevant preparation, it is understandable that they will do so only when it is formalized that air travel and transfers to foreign countries will be made without complicated formalities and quarantines, which will cast doubt on what they will encounter at their destination.”
In this light, the same factors pointed out, the Local Authorities are considering their next steps in order to be able to return to full speed when conditions allow, since in the first half of 2021 they estimate that it will be non-existent anyway. in the field of civil marriage due to the problems that still exist in all countries with the virus.
The delay in the return to normalcy in this sector, is judged by the officials of the Municipalities of the province of Paphos as a major blow to their finances, due to the very large revenues they have from this activity. Characteristic is the fact, as the official in charge of civil marriages in the Municipality of Pegeia, Maria Giagou, stated to “F”, that only last year more than 300 thousand euros of income from this activity flowed into the municipal coffers.
Corresponding profitability was recorded before the pandemic by the Municipalities of Paphos and Geroskipou, which in 2019, based on their official data, set a record in the earnings from this activity.
