Filenews 22 January 2022 - by Adamos Adamou
When the Deputy Minister of Tourism estimated last year that this year's tourist season would start earlier than in other years, he obviously had in mind the incentive scheme approved by the European Commission to tour operators valid until April. This is a plan that was put before the Commission for approval and is a continuation of the incentive plan for foreign tour operators implemented last summer. The new plan, which was finally approved only last Thursday by the Commission, provides, like the one implemented in the summer, for the subsidy of tour operators for every night they will bring to Cyprus by the end of April, provided that they commit to a minimum of 7,000 overnight stays in legal accommodation.
As he mentioned, speaking to "F", the Deputy Minister of Tourism Savvas Perdios, the subsidy amounts to €2.50 for each night, adding that the plan is put in place since the tour operators will either charter flights for arrivals by April or will use seats on scheduled flights. The plan, he said, aims, among other things, to boost arrivals in the first quarter, in order to achieve the goal set for a restart earlier this year of the tourist season, but also to facilitate the efforts made to make Cyprus a year-round destination. The aim, said Mr. Perdios, is to "bust" in March and April with the incentives to the tour operators, adding that the incentive plan will be communicated to all associates of the Deputy Ministry abroad.
Mr. Perdios estimated that the approval by the Commission of the incentive plan, as well as the timely approval of the protocol of operation of the destinations by the Council of Ministers also last week, which will come into force from March 1st, will generally strengthen the efforts to restart earlier the tourist year, which last year actually began at the end of June. Only in this way, the deputy minister added, will a goal set so that this year will be even better than last year's for tourism. As mentioned by the Deputy Minister of Tourism, now the hotel industry also has before it all the data to make its own decisions regarding when the units will reopen, claiming that both the protocol of operation of the destination and the incentive plan to tour operators give enough time for the opening of hoteliers and facilitate at the same time their operation earlier.
We note that, on the basis of what the Commission has also announced on this issue, the Cypriot support programme, amounting to €2 million, will be implemented by the Commission. approved as compatible with the exceptional support measures and the Temporary Framework for State aid applied by the same EU, concerns support for travel agents affected by the coronavirus pandemic. Under the programme, state aid will take the form of direct grants. The measure, according to the EU, is aimed at travel agents operating in the CCT who have entered into contracts with airlines operating in Cyprus through the airports of Larnaca and Paphos. The aim of the programme is to provide incentives for inbound tourism, while at the same time indirectly benefiting many relevant businesses, such as hotels, restaurants, the food industry, as well as cultural and sporting events. According to the EU, the aid will not exceed €2.3 million per beneficiary and will be granted no later than 30 April 2022.
