& nbsp & nbspInsider/ΚΥΠΕ & nbsp; & nbsp; “Despite the Ukrainian crisis, the goal of Cyprus attracting more tourists this year by 2021 is achievable,” he said in a statement. & nbsp; the Deputy Minister of Tourism Savvas Perdios.
Mr. Perdios estimated that the loss of tourist arrivals from Russia and Ukraine, which was estimated at around 800,000 tourists, will be offset by the increased interest from the United Kingdom, Israel and other destinations with which there is increased connectivity. >
Mr. Perdios reviewed the situation in today's meeting with their tourism operators, in the light of the reversal of the plans brought about by the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the consequent economic sanctions of the West, the closure of its airspace EU to Russia, but also the great slide of the ruble.
“The year will be difficult but not black,” he stressed.
As he said, the tourist arrivals from Ukraine and Russia cumulatively brought about 600,000 arrivals last year (out of the total of 1.94 million), while this year, following the consultations of the Ministry, we expected that we would have around 800,000 in tourist arrivals from the two markets, arrivals that are considered to have been largely lost.
“The post-war situation in Ukraine is a significant loss,” he said, adding that the loss would particularly affect the Famagusta Free Zone.
As Perdios explained, even if flights are resumed there is a serious fluctuation of the ruble exchange rate which makes holiday travel difficult.
“Therefore, we see that there is a serious possibility that we will not have these arrivals or that we will have a much smaller number,” he said, noting that no matter how many moves are made, you can not completely replace such a market overnight. such as Russia and Ukraine.
READ ALSO: & nbsp; YPOIK: Deposits and businesses do not leave
Regarding the compensation of tourist arrivals from Russia and Ukraine, Mr. Perdios said that we believe that a percentage of the losses can be covered by the British market, because the interest from Britain remains very high, while at the same time they are strengthening. even more so the efforts of all tourism operators to markets for which in recent years special efforts have been made to strengthen them.
These are Israel, Germany, Poland, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, France, Sweden and Hungary. Countries are ranked based on the number of weekly flights.
“All these markets will have between 20 and 40 flights a week due to our actions at the moment and the work that preceded all of us in recent years,” added the Deputy Minister of Tourism, noting that the expected number of flights we would have from Russia would have between 100 and 120 flights a week this year. with tour operators, or extraordinary partnerships with airlines. “Whatever means we have at our disposal to do something more in these markets we will try to use it,” he added.
Regarding the goals for this year, Mr. Perdios reminded that the primary goal this year in the aftermath of the recovery of tourism from the coronavirus pandemic was to do better than 2021.
“We continue to believe that the “This goal remains feasible,” he said. Most importantly, the British market, which did not open before August, will be open this year from the beginning of the summer season.
“So combining aid from Britain and other countries, “We continue to consider achieving the goal of better performance than last year,” he said, adding that we would like to do even better as best we can so that tourism have had the last two years.
