Filenews 8 May 2021 - by Adamos Adamou
A record of vouchers issued in 2020 by local tourism operators due to holiday, overnight and travel cancellations is being made by the Ministry of Finance under legislation passed last year following an EU recommendation.
This legislation provides for the provision of government guarantees of up to €86 million. In the event of the insolvency of the providers of tourist services, the amount of the aid is €1 million. In particular, on the basis of the Emergency Measures in the Field of Tourism Act 2020, the Minister of Finance yesterday issued a decree regarding the draft government guarantees in relation to the vouchers issued.
The SYIC subsequently also announced the process of submitting and examining applications for participation in the government guarantee scheme in relation to the issuance of credit notes offered for cancelled package travel services, hotel companies, cruise companies and driverless vehicle rental companies under Covid–19.
The notices show that interested parties will have 30 days to apply to participate in the government guarantee scheme, completing and sending the forms released yesterday, with the last date for the submission of applications being 7 June 2021.
According to the Ministry of Tourism and the Consumer Protection Agency, the Ministry of Tourism and the Consumer Protection Agency are designated as implementing bodies for the project and assume responsibility for the receipt, examination and approval of applications and the Treasury of the Republic will issue the relevant guarantees after approval by the Minister of Finance.
Applications for millions
Under legislation adopted last year, the state can guarantee credit notes issued by tourism operators with €86 million. In particular, the €80 million in the budget for the period 2000-2006 includes an amount of €5 million which the State can guarantee relating to credit notes which may have been issued by hoteliers to foreign tour operators, €1.5 million to private individuals issued by hoteliers, €1.5 million to private individuals, €10 million from Cyprus tour operators to consumers and the 100,000 credit notes issued by vehicle rental undertakings.
The legislation provides that credit notes may be used until the end of 2021 and that they can be redeemed if they are not used by the end of January 2022 or otherwise by September 2022. Activation of the government guarantees, that will be given after the relevant applications, will be made in case of insolvency of the provider.
As announced yesterday, the Ministry of Tourism and the Consumer Protection Agency, after finalizing the list of approved applicants will send them a copy of the submitted documents. For its part, the Treasury shall, after checking the lists, inform the Minister of Finance, who approves the granting of government guarantees corresponding to each applicant, the relevant terms and conditions and the fee to be paid to ensure them. Each tour operator, driverless vehicle rental company, hotel operator, cruise company that meets the requirements of the legislation will then be informed by the Treasury of the outcome of his request and of the amount corresponding to the issuance of his government guarantee in case of his approval. As announced yesterday by SUPPORT, the government guarantee enters into force with the payment of the fee in accordance with the terms and conditions set out in the guarantee document (the fee is fixed for large enterprises at 1.25% of the total amount of the guarantee).
Furthermore, the holders of the guarantees should submit every three months of each year, or at the request of the Treasury, an electronic file with a detailed statement of the credit notes redeemed and the outstanding credit notes accompanied by a Responsible Declaration that the data submitted is correct.
The validity of government guarantees in relation to the issuance of credit notes offered for cancelled services in accordance with Articles 3, 4 and 6 of the Law under Covid–19 is terminated on 30 September 2022 and in relation to Article 5 of the Law the validity is terminated on 31 January 2022.
Cyprus did not shy away from Britain's orange category
As expected, Cyprus is on the orange list of destinations for English tourists, officially announced yesterday along with the lifting of the ban on British leisure travel abroad, which ends on the 17th May.
The inclusion of our country in the orange category does not allow optimism for a significant flow of tourists from Britain, the largest market for Cypriot tourism, in the next period, but the stabilisation of the epidemiological picture of Cyprus and the increase in vaccinations create the prospect of upgrading it afterwards. It is noted that British lists will be re-evaluated every three weeks.
The Green List of Britons includes just one European destination for the time being - Portugal. On the green list, with only two diagnostic tests required before and after returning to Britain without quarantine, only a few countries will initially be included: Portugal (along with the Azores and Madeira), Gibraltar, Israel, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Brunei, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, and the Falkland Islands.
The orange category, along with Cyprus, includes most popular European destinations, such as Spain, France, Italy and Greece. Visitors to the UK from the orange-class countries and British tourists returning will have to undergo a molecular test before the return flight and two more molecular tests on the second and eighth days of arrival. They will also be required to be in solitary confinement for ten days, at home.
