Filenews 19 September 2021 - by Adamos Adamou
Prospects of further expansion of Gulf Air's activities in Cyprus and attracting visitors from Saudi Arabia created the first trip of the Deputy Minister of Tourism, in the context of the information campaign launched by the Deputy Ministry, in order to communicate the new tourist identity of the country.
Speaking to "F", from the capital of Bahrain, Manama, shortly before his departure, Savvas Perdios positively appreciated the visit to the Kingdom, citing the benefits that arise mainly from his contacts with Gulf Air. He explained that the information campaign will continue in the coming period, with his missions to several countries, mainly European, with the aim of further attracting mainly individual visitors who are in the majority this difficult year, in contrast to the picture that prevailed before the pandemic where the majority of tourists arrived through tour operators.
Regarding his contacts with Bahrain's state-owned carrier, Mr. Perdios said that Gulf Air expressed its desire to use our country for further expansion to Europe and other destinations. "What we want to ensure, and this is what we will discuss in the coming period, is that the expansion of Gulf Air will take place mostly on routes that are of interest to the country for tourism, as for example we did with Wizz Air, which came and made a base in Cyprus."
According to Mr. Perdios, the same effort is being made with Gulf and in this context the focus is on the development of routes in various cities of France, Spain and Portugal, with the Deputy Minister also pointing out that in their contacts they will inform that we are also interested in the route to the USA.
Asked if Gulf Air, which already connects Cyprus with Bahrain, while also operating flights on the Larnaca – Athens route, will open a base such as Wizz, Mr. Perdios said that the company's operational development is something that will be decided by it. "For us it is important that they want Cyprus to be at the heart of their expansion. Now, whether it will be done with a base or use Cyprus as a transit station to go further and then return to Bahrain will be decided by them."
Savvas Perdios said that the company is flexible in making short decisions, explaining, however, that the start of the expansion will also depend on an investigation of the issue they want to do themselves. "When the in-depth investigation is over that they want to do themselves, they are ready to proceed soon, i.e. in 2022 it would be possible, if they are satisfied with the study they will do," he said, saying that Gulf Air as a non-European company should acquire fifth-freedom rights, both from Cyprus and to the other destinations to which it will fly. In this context, Mr. Perdios explained the importance of the proposals of Cyprus to the company regarding the routes it will choose to operate. As he said, with Spain and Portugal we do not have any routes today, while for France only a few concerning the southern part of the country. "For a country to be able to give a fifth freedom, it is more likely to do so for destinations or routes that no one flies, that are not served today," he added.
In the context of contacts with Gulf Air executives, the prospect of cooperation with the company in order to attract visitors from Saudi Arabia was also discussed. "Through our investigation we learned that Bahrain is connected to Saudi Arabia via a bridge over the sea. In half an hour the inhabitants of Saudi Arabia can be found in Bahrain by their car. Thus, we have agreed with Gulf that it is a market that we can attract as Cyprus and we will proceed with a joint advertising campaign to the areas of Saudi Arabia that are close to Bahrain.
We also agreed with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Cyprus that it is possible and feasible for the visitor to get the visa he wants at the Consulate of Cyprus in Bahrain, while today he must secure it by going to Riyadh within five hours. With what is being promoted, the Saudi will be able to come to Bahrain to get his visa from the consulate and get on the plane to Cyprus," he explained, recording the prospects of penetrating the market in Saudi Arabia, a country with 40 million population, he added.
With a suitcase in hand for viewing
Bahrain was the first stop of the information campaign officially launched by the Deputy Minister of Tourism, who within the next six months will be in many other countries to present the new tourism identity. "After Bahrain we return to Cyprus and then we leave for France. After Scandinavian countries, Germany, Israel, United Arab Emirates, Austria, Switzerland, Poland, Ukraine, Italy, United Kingdom, Hungary, Slovenia, Saudi Arabia, Belgium, Netherlands and Russia. Our first goal is to present the new tourist identity of Cyprus, our new logo, to present everything that the Deputy Ministry has done over the last 18 months to improve the product, our villages, the countryside, the authentic route we are launching next week, the special forms of tourism", said Savvas Perdios, expressing the belief "that we are ready as Cyprus to bring out dynamically this new face of ours".
Asked if in his next missions there will be contacts with tour operators and airlines, Mr. Perdios explained that through what is planned is to get the foreign public to know our country, clearly stressing that the goal is to promote Cyprus to individual travellers. "With our visits, interviews and events that will take place, not the first goal is not to attract tourism through tour operators, but to inform the public about what Cyprus is doing, what Cyprus is doing in order to be able to attract more individual travellers. Now, if there will be a meeting with tour operators or with a targeted airline that we feel is interesting, etc., let it happen, but it is not our primary goal. Cyprus suffers from information in foreign markets to individual travellers. That's why we paid so much attention to digital marketing and other actions and events," he said, explaining that the deputy ministry's goal is for the digital marketing fund to increase further next year.
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"It is a given that we want to increase our expenditure on digital marketing, we also want to increase our spending on presentations in the various markets and we feel that Cyprus has great opportunities and potential to attract individual travellers because now several twelve-month flights have entered, from Wizz Air, Ryanair and others. It helps a lot to enhance our connectivity and already the results have begun to show. The average expenditure per visitor in 2019 was €615, while this year until June increased to €760, which means that the targeting and implementation of the national tourism strategy has begun to take place. The increase in per capita expenditure was a key part of the national tourism strategy and everything indicates that we are on track. It is no coincidence that one in two travellers who comes to Cyprus chooses four- and five-star hotels. It is also no coincidence that the head of expenditure is increasing," he said, suggesting that this is also due to the increase in the proportion of individual travellers. Which today, he said, is about 60%, whereas it was 30% before the pandemic.
