Filenews 4 June 2021 - by Adamos Adamou
Without a significant flow of tourist arrivals from the United Kingdom it is expected to close in the first half, since Cyprus, as expected, did not even enter England's green list yesterday.
In fact, no country has been added to the green list of The British, and there has even been a 'degradation' in the orange category of Portugal, the only European destination that was 'green'!
The bet on Cypriot tourism is now expected to be played in the second half, which will show whether the year will be better than last year and to what extent. However, yesterday, the Finance Minister, speaking to the European Parliament, estimated that with the 'green passport' to be in place pan-European and with the strengthening of the Member States' vaccination programme recorded, tourism revenues this year could reach 50% compared to 2019.
It is noted that last year tourism revenues were limited to €392 million, compared with €2,7 billion, in the previous year, in 2019, recording a decrease of 85.4%. Following yesterday's UK decisions, our country, as well as many competing destinations in Cyprus, are awaiting the next revision of the relevant list of Britons, which will take place on the 28th, hoping for "green".
We recall that the Deputy Minister of Tourism, who had visited London last Tuesday to inform about the significant improvement in the epidemiological situation in Cyprus, estimated in statements to the British media that Cyprus "absolutely deserves to be on the green list". He expressed the hope that Cyprus would be put on the green list either on 7 June or in the next review, on the 28th.
Today, Cyprus is in the orange category of England's "traffic light" system, which prevents, as we have written before, travel to our country, but also to all "orange" destinations, since Britons returning from them are forced into house arrest for 10 days. In the same category, as mentioned, all European destinations are now, after yesterday's review, although countries such as Greece, Italy and others, unlike Cyprus, are not so dependent on the British market.
The United Kingdom, as you know, is the most important market for Cypriot tourism, with arrivals reaching 1.3 million in 2019. and making up one third of all arrivals to Cyprus (33.5%).
Numb June, hopes for July and August
Without British tourists, June is expected to be a numb tourist month, as PASYXE President Philocyprus Roussanidis admitted yesterday. But he noted that there is cautious optimism for July and August, adding that everything will depend on the evolution of the pandemic. At the moment, he told the CYPE, we are standing by, we are waiting for developments in the various countries from which we expect tourist traffic and especially from our traditional markets, Great Britain, Israel and Russia. As far as Great Britain is concerned, he expressed the hope 'even on 28 June, which will be the next assessment, that we will go to the green category, which will mean a substantial descent of tourists from Great Britain'.
Mr. Rousunidis noted that from Russia, Cyprus expects charter flights to be allowed, which will also pave the way for tourist traffic. It is noted that, with the aim of giving the green light for charter flights from Russia, the Deputy Minister of Tourism, who is currently in Athens, where he is taking part in the European Commission meeting of the World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO), will be in Moscow tomorrow, Saturday. For the time being, a significant number of routes are being operated to Cyprus from Russia, which has been particularly assistive in the reopening of several hotel units in Cyprus.
