The developments in the Middle East are troubling, but for now they have not shown to have any impact on tourist arrivals in Cyprus, which started 2024 “quite strongly”, said the press representative of the Association of Travel and Tourism Agents of Cyprus (ACTA) Antonis Orthodoxou. announcing the organization of the 25th tourist exhibition “TRAVEL EXPO CYPRUS” on April 19 – 21, at the State Exhibition grounds, in Nicosia.
The exhibition, which is jointly organized by ACTA and Display Art, will be opened on Friday, April 19, at 17.00, by the Deputy Minister of Tourism, Kostas Koumis, and the Ambassador of Greece in Cyprus, Ioannis Papameletiou, and it will be open to the public on the 19 and April 20 from 16.00 – 22.00 and on April 21 from 15.00 – 21.00. Entry for children under 12 is free, while for adults the entry price is 4 euros.
Speaking in the context of a press conference related to the “TRAVEL EXPO CYPRUS” exhibition, Mr. Orthodoxou said that this year's exhibition is of particular importance because the association is celebrating 70 years of operation this year. He added that “this specialized exhibition is characterized as one of the most successful exhibitions organized in Cyprus”, attracting more than 10,000 visitors annually, while it is the only tourism exhibition held in Cyprus.
He said that the exhibition offers comprehensive information and information to travelers wishing to spend their holidays in Cyprus and abroad, as well as attractive travel packages from the exhibitors participating in the exhibition.
He also said that this year the Hellenic Tourism Organization (EOT), the Deputy Ministry of Tourism, travel agents, airlines, hotels, tourist resorts and regions, islands and municipalities of Greece are participating in the exhibition with a stand.
The Director of Tourism of the Deputy Ministry of Tourism, Annita Dimitriadou, said that the improvement and upgrading of the exhibition is noticeable year after year. He added that the Deputy Ministry of Tourism will have at the exhibition “a large stand where we will present the special interests in tourism and at the same time we will have a stand as an agro-tourism company”.
The Head of EOT Cyprus Petros Saganas, after congratulating the Association on its 70 years of operation, said that “Cyprus is one of the important tourist markets of Greece”, which is the “first destination of Cypriots abroad”.
< p data-block-key="bl3at">Mr. Saganas expressed the hope “for a good tourist year, given the geopolitical instability and the possible economic effects it may have on consumers' wallets”, while he wished that the tourist traffic to Greece and Cyprus would be good, after last year's record year.
Also, he wished that “the number of Greeks visiting Cyprus will also increase, because the balance is in favor of Greece”, as he said.
Mr. Saganas also said that Greece is participating again this year with a large stand in which, in addition to EOT, 10 co-exhibitors (7 regions, 2 municipalities and 1 private company) participate, while he mentioned an event with dances and songs from Epirus by the Union of Continents of Cyprus which will take place on Saturday at 17.00, as part of the exhibition.
Asked whether the number of tourist arrivals in Cyprus will be affected due to the developments in the Middle East, Mr. Orthodoxou said that tourism to Cyprus “started this year quite strongly” and this was helped by the early Catholic Easter, adding that due to this fact “more hotels were opened than in other years and much earlier”. to have some impact,” he added.
In turn, the Director of Tourism of the Undersecretary of Tourism said that it would be considered positive “if we stay at the levels of 2023 or if we have a small increase”, adding that “we are working to have an increase”.
When asked if Cypriots started booking trips abroad, Mr. Orthodoxou answered in the affirmative, adding that this year there were three three-day holidays, during which “they went too far good reservations”.
He also said that bookings for Easter are going “very well”, while “summer bookings are also going very well”, which “could go even further”, adding that compared to the corresponding period last year, reservations are “at the same levels”.
Asked if there would be attractive package holidays at the show, ACTA's spokesperson said that since the COVID-19 pandemic “a lot of things have changed in what we mean by attractive price because the costs have gone too high” (of fuel, airlines, consumers, travel agents) and added that at the exhibition “there will be a wide range of (holiday) packages for various destinations”. He also mentioned that there are packages that started last year involving Spain and Portugal and for which there was demand.
He noted that additional direct flights have been added to islands in Greece and especially for Crete, where in July and August direct flights can reach 10 per week.
