Cyprus Mail 18 May 2020 - by Jonathan Shkurko
Deputy Minister for tourism Savvas Perdios (left)
Deputy Minister for Tourism Savvas Perdios said on Monday he is in serious and constant talks with Cyprus’ tourism partners abroad to get a clear picture of tourism sector by the end of May.
Perdios told the Cyprus News Agency (CNA) he will hold the first phase of the consultations with airlines and travel agents, whereas the second phase will also involve the Transport Minister Yiannis Karousos and representatives of airport operator Hermes.
“The goal is to ensure we can receive tourists from as many countries as possible in what we expect to be a very difficult year ahead,” Perdios said.
He said he held similar talks with airlines and travel agents three weeks ago, adding, however, that “the situation now is much clearer, as we are at a stage in which we can start thinking of opening up to foreign visitors in the near future.”
Perdios also said he is targeting tourism markets that are not big markets for Cyprus such as Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Greece, Israel, Norway and Denmark.
“All these countries are expected to open up earlier than the UK, Russia and Sweden, which are more commonly linked to Cyprus,” he said.
“That does not mean we are cutting ties with them, we are simply considering expanding our range. There are also plans to attract tourists from the UK, Russia and Sweden in the winter, at a time where the situation for those countries might be better.”
Perdios added that the number of hotels that will open in the summer will depend on the information gathered by the end of May and on the protocols that will be issued by the health ministry.
“By the end of May, we will have a complete picture of how the tourism industry will function and what markets we will have to target the most,” he said.
“Our goal is to have at least 30 per cent of the tourists that came to Cyprus last year. It’s not a great number, but we must be realistic and understand that the situation we are facing is both difficult and unprecedented,” Perdios concluded.
