Liverpool Echo 28 April 2020 - by Jess Flaherty
Holiday destination favourite Cyprus aims to open to tourists from July, but it doesn't look like British holidaymakers will make the cut.
The popular island has seen just 817 confirmed cases of the deadly coronavirus, which has been put down to strict lockdown measures introduced in March
Officials say the island will see a loss of €1.5 billion in tourism income as 60% of all holiday bookings are expected to be cancelled.
But tourism could start to return to the country from July with limited arrivals, according to the Financial Mirror.
Cypriot tourism stakeholders are keen to salvage the tourist season - by welcome visitors from neighbouring countries also experiencing lower numbers of the virus.
The island's economy is somewhat reliant on tourism, with the Deputy Ministry taking action to help the sector prepare for welcoming and encouraging holiday bookings.
It has already started campaigning in certain countries while preparing holiday packages to try and drum up local tourism - but the invite has yet to be extended to Britain.
Brits are one of the largest tourist groups to holiday on the island but the UK will still have to wait until it can jet off to Cyprus.
Bookings for Britain and Russia, which Cyprus receives the largest share of tourists, will open at a later stage.
Cyprus Deputy Ministry of Tourism Savvas Perdios said: "We hope to know in a few weeks when tourists will be able to come from these countries".
He added: "The important thing is that travel agents have Cyprus in mind…there are positive signs from Germany, Switzerland, Austria, the Nordic countries, Greece, Israel and perhaps the Netherlands."
Mr Perdios hopes to see airlines providing attractive offers sometime in July.
A new order is also to be introduced to allow tour agents to issue vouchers over refunds, while also prioritising domestic tourism as a method to bring money in to the tourism industry short-term.
