War eating into Cyprus tourism

Nicosia is preparing an action plan for replacing lost tourism from the Russian and Ukrainian markets, according to Minister of Transportation, Communications and Works Yiannis Karoussos. Its focus is on reaching out to other European and Middle Eastern markets to make up for the expected loss in tourism arrivals this year.

Karoussos noted last Friday after meeting with European Investment Bank Vice President Lilyana Pavlova that tourists from Russia and Ukraine regularly account for over 25% of arrivals in Cyprus.

“This year we were counting on a year with numbers similar to 2019, since the calculations of related businesses had shown that we would have approximately 90% of the volume of that year. We would have been very close if it wasn’t for the war,” he said, adding that 2019 was a record year for Cyprus tourism.

“We now know that whatever happens, the Russian and Ukrainian markets are lost for this year,” he noted, adding that the ministry is preparing a plan to promote Cyprus tourism to markets that will be able to replace part of that loss.

“We are focusing on Europe and the Middle East,” he said, noting the work being done by the Transport and Tourism ministries.