Filenews 7 May 2021 - by Adamos Adamou
The final touches to the protocol of operation of Cyprus as a tourist destination were put on Wednesday night by the Council of Ministers. Among other things, it was made clear that, following the abolition of text messages for movements from 10 May, the day on which the facilities for those tourists who have been vaccinated come into force, visitors will be able to travel to Cyprus with CyprusFlightPass, which they complete for their arrival in Cyprus and will not even need the Coronapass, which is promoted for locals , and no new tests.
As Deputy Tourism Minister Savvas Perdios explained to "F", CyprusFlightPass will be the way tourists are transported, stating that travellers will have the option of either printing CyprusFlightPass for their travel, or using their mobile phone, in which they will have the completed CyprusFlightPass stored, as sent to them through the system. This decision, Mr Perdios said, also clarifies the final details and closes any outstanding issues with regard to the opening of the destination.
The Deputy Minister of Tourism estimated that our partners abroad now have all the data before them regarding the restart of the tourism industry, noting, in fact, on the basis of the indications of recent weeks, that "the wheel has started to spin".
As he said, tourist traffic from Russia and Israel has started and is constantly increasing, as has demand from these markets. "I think they will move (Russia and Israel) to satisfactory levels this year," he said. According to him, charter flights from the Nordic countries will also start from the weekend, and later flights from those countries will be strengthened.
Mr Perdios also mentioned that increasing trends are also observed by the Gulf countries, in particular the United States and Lebanon, considering that there will be increased interest with the end of lockdown in Cyprus and in EU countries and arrivals from other European countries with which there is connectivity.
He acknowledged that the move by Britain is a question mark, since the flow of tourists will depend to a large extent on the decisions of the British Government and not on ours.
Great interest in incentives from tour operators
In the meantime, ''the turn of the wheel'' for tourism is expected, according to what the Deputy Minister of Tourism told "F", to strengthen the Ministry's incentive plan, amounting to €8 million. This is the first time that the Commission has adopted a proposal for a Directive on the application of the system of state aid.
As Mr Perdios said, there has already been an update from our tourism partners abroad, who have seen the motives with a positive lens. According to him, there has already been an interest in incentives from Britain, Ukraine, Russia, Poland and Nordic countries promoting organised tourism/packages. The important thing, as the Secretary of State explained, is that these incentives are based on the performance that each tour operator will have and are linked to the number of nights for which they will be committed.
As we have written again, on the basis of the incentive plan adopted, in order for tour operators to be eligible for the grant, they will have to commit between June and September to a minimum number of nights in legal accommodation. The support will not exceed €1,8 million.
With regard to the "prohibition" still in force for charter flights from Russia, the Deputy Minister considered that it was only a matter of days before this was abolished as a result of the strengthening of Cyprus' vaccination programme and the increased demand from Russia. As he explained, Cyprus is one of the few destinations currently open to Russia, adding that the announcements made to identify the Russian vaccine for the purpose of facilitating travel to the country reinforced the demand that already existed from this market.
It is recalled that Cyprus from Monday will welcome those visitors who have been vaccinated - and with Sputnik V, in addition to those approved by the EU - as if they were in green countries, i.e. without the obligation to present negative diagnostic tests.
