Filenews 23 June 2023 - by Evagoras Prokopiou
A replacement for Russian tourists has been found and the numbers are climbing at all levels
The tourism industry has overcome the shock and awe of Russia's invasion of Ukraine and is now eyeing the record numbers of 2019. The gloomy scene seems to have been overcome by the quick reaction of the domestic tourism industry and the Deputy Ministry of Tourism. All the factors that make up the heavy industry of the country are optimistic that despite the problems that still exist, 2023 will be one of the best years of Cypriot tourism.
The European Travel Commission's report, "European Tourism - Trends and Prospects (Q1/2023)" shows the heavy dependence that our "heavy" industry had acquired on the Russian market. In 2019, the countries with the highest Russian market share were Cyprus (20% of all arrivals were from Russia), Montenegro (18%), Georgia (16%) and Turkey (12%).
Of these destinations, only Cyprus is part of the EU with known bans. The loss of this market share alone resulted in a loss of €600 million. in 2022. Ukraine was also an important market for Cyprus, with 2% of visits to Cyprus in 2019 coming from Ukraine.
Cyprus in 2022 stood at -19.5% compared to 2019 in terms of arrivals, while in the first months of 2023, arrivals were at -11.8% from 2019. Foreign tourist arrivals to Europe were 18% below 2019 levels for the whole of 2022.
Tourism revenues for 2022 amount to €2.4 billion, just 9% less than the revenues gained in 2019. Compared to the revenues earned in 2021 from tourism, 2022 saw a 61% increase in revenue, setting a strong upward trend for the future.
It is noteworthy that, despite the lower number of tourist arrivals and tourism revenues recorded in 2022 compared to pre-pandemic years, 2022 saw an increased expenditure per tourist, which amounted to €760 per person. Spending per tourist observed in 2022 saw a 13% increase, compared to spending per tourist recorded in 2019, which amounted to €675, indicating that the island's tourism is shifting towards a better quality of tourism with higher visitor spending.
Nowadays a tourist has a plethora of travel options regarding the places he can travel. Countries such as Cyprus, with an economy that relies heavily on the tourism industry, should constantly enhance and revitalize their tourism attraction techniques, emphasizing destination marketing and place branding, in order to be able to compete with other destinations, attract tourism from all over the world and promote themselves on a global scale.
Cyprus' online reputation as a destination for overall customer satisfaction is currently at 86%, just behind Turkey and Greece (88% and 87% respectively). The overall goal is to raise the percentage to 2030% by 90.
The vision of the former Deputy Minister of Tourism and the ultimate goal of the National Tourism Strategy 2030 (EST2030) is to establish Cyprus as a year-round, more qualitative, digitally smart, more accessible tourist destination, which respects the environment and channels the benefits of tourism to all areas of the island.
MARKET EXPANSION AND CONNECTIVITY
What the report notes is that the Cypriot government "took advantage" of the new data, both to develop a more diversified mix of tourism source markets, reducing dependence on Russian visitors, but also to diversify its tourism product.
In an effort to expand Cyprus' reputation beyond the "sun and sea", the Deputy Ministry of Tourism promoted communities in 2022, which helped encourage greater geographical dispersion of tourism beyond coastal hotspots. At the same time, Cyprus' increased air connectivity across Europe also helped replace the Russian arrivals section.
In 2022, our country penetrated European markets like never before. Thanks to the plans of previous years and the intensive efforts of all stakeholders, the significantly enriched flight schedule to and from Cypriot airports and the targeted promotion campaigns of Cyprus abroad, last summer we attracted a large number of travelers from countries such as Poland, France, Italy, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and others. Our country now accounts for an ever-increasing share of visitors from the European market.
BRITISH-ISRAELIS HOLD THE SCEPTER
If we study the data of the Statistical Service for April 2023, we observe that tourist arrivals amounted to 342.736 compared to 289.335 in April 2022, recording an increase of 18,5%. Now for the period January – April 2023, tourist arrivals amounted to 736.629 compared to 534.040 in the corresponding period of 2022, recording an increase of 37,9%.
Arrivals from the United Kingdom were the main source of tourism for April 2023, accounting for 36,3% (124.455) of total arrivals, arrivals from Israel 9,9% (34.069), arrivals from Poland and Germany 6,7% (23.063 and 23.038 respectively) and arrivals from Greece 6,2% (21.184). The purpose of travel in April 2023 was for 79.3% of tourists holidays, for 14.5% visiting friends or relatives and for 6.0% business. Respectively, for April 2022, 80,2% visited Cyprus for holidays, 14,6% for visiting friends or relatives and 5,2% for business reasons.
ACE UP YOUR SLEEVE IN 2023
In the first ten days of July, City of Dreams Mediterranean, the first multi-theme resort in Europe, will open in the area of Zakaki in Limassol, as announced by Melco Resorts & Entertainment.
The resort is open from June 12 for a specific number of guests, while its gates to the general public will open on July 10. It includes a wide range of services, such as Europe's largest casino, numerous entertainment facilities, restaurants offering haute cuisine, as well as the largest conference centre (MICE) in Cyprus.
Grant Johnson, General Manager of City of Dreams Mediterranean and Cyprus Casinos, said this is our first venture within Europe, a landmark project that will introduce Melco's award-winning entertainment and leisure standards and innovation to the island's luxury hotel industry in Cyprus. It is worth mentioning that it is the first development project in Cyprus to achieve a BREEAM Excellent rating at the design stage, since it was designed with sustainability as a compass.
THE CRUISE THAT CAME TO US FROM NOWHERE
Some circumstances that triggered and favoured the cruise in general and Limassol, which is evolving into a main "visit" station for many cruise ships. But those who came to us with the cruise ships, although day visitors, nevertheless the thousands decide to get off the cruise ships for a few hours and leave income and foreign exchange.
At each station the cruise companies have an excursion for sale and they do the same when they arrive in Limassol, with many of the travellers getting off, being transported by hired coaches to various destinations for a guided tour. There are excursions that include Lefkara and Agios Lazaros of Larnaka, old Nicosia, Petra tou Romiou, Kourion, Kolossi, Choirokoitia, Paphos and other monuments and archaeological sites, as well as restaurants or wineries.
Some visitors simply prefer a walk in Limassol, but still leave income, thus helping the economy. In fact, the increase in these visitors had such a dynamic that, according to information, "the Deputy Ministry of Tourism wishes to involve the Statistical Service in the collection of data on revenues from daily visitors, through questionnaires at ports.
Data from DP World Limassol, the passenger terminal operator, says that last year we were honoured by 165 cruise ships and about 200,000 passengers/daily visitors.
Apart from that, Limassol Port is now also a port of departure for major cruises of internationally renowned companies that have also established offices in Cyprus, such as Royal Caribbean. In fact, the company hopes for positive results this year as well, since according to the data so far, the port of Limassol will welcome more than 200 cruise ships and about 300,000 passengers.
LESS RELIANCE ON ORGANIZERS
Data for 2022 shows that the country's heavy industry is now less dependent on tour operators. And this is now a timeless goal and planning for the Deputy Ministry of Tourism but also for the tourism industry players themselves, due to the successive bankruptcies of global giants in the organized travel sector that had touched Cyprus in the last five years.
Before the pandemic our tourism depended 70% on tour operators and only 30% on individual travellers, today the rates for 2022 are close to 50/50. But our main market where we draw tourism from, that of the UK, there is a significant stream of tourism through tour operators.
THERE IS ALSO WEDDING TOURISM
Over time, wedding tourism shows a small annual increase, with the exception of the pandemic period and everything indicates that this year will probably be one of the best for the sector. Most weddings take place between April and September, indicating that there is potential to extend the marriage period to non-peak months.
In 2018, there were 8,368 civil marriages of foreigners in municipalities, with the number rising to 8,481 in 2019. In 2020, due to the pandemic, the number was limited to 754 to reach 4.137 in 2021 and almost 6 thousand in 2022. For this year, the estimate is that we will reach five digits. Specifically, it is expected that for 2023 the number will exceed 10,000 wedding ceremonies, of which the majority will come from the UK.
The growth of the sector is such that from the beginning of 2023 the collection of statistics on civil marriages by the Statistical Service began. According to data from the Deputy Ministry of Tourism, the main source countries for civil marriages, according to municipal data, are in order of priority United Kingdom, Russia (until early 2022), Israel, Poland, Lebanon, Dubai (expats, luxury destination weddings and events), Jordan, Hungary, Baltic States, Germany, Austria, Italy, Nordic countries. The US and French markets are also growing.
Cyprus, based on the number of civil marriage licenses, and according to information from tour operators, holds a prominent position among competitive European and Mediterranean destinations.
ESTIMATES FOR HISTORICAL TRAVEL RECORD THIS YEAR
Increased interest in trips abroad by residents of Cyprus is recorded this year, with the honorary president of the Association of Travel Agents Akis Kelepeshis appearing convinced that by the end of the year they will reach 1.5 million, recording the record performance recorded in 2019. However, the statistics office's data for March and April show a trend that may bring record numbers in this sector.
Specifically, in March 113,805 returned back to the island compared to March 2022, an increase of 90% was recorded, as last year the returns of Cypriots were limited to 59,918. residents of Cyprus. In April, trips by residents of Cyprus abroad in 2023 amounted to 135.659 compared to 81.062 in April 2022, recording an increase of 67,4%. Regarding the March statistics, 34,455 or 30.3% choose Greece as their destination, followed by destinations such as the United Kingdom with 14.4% (16,386), Bulgaria with 4.0% (4,527) and Italy with 3.5% (3,959).
In April, due to Easter, there was increased interest compared to last year for trips to Greece, with Corfu and Chios having the honour. Mr. Kelepesis notes that there is also an increased interest in traveling to Central Europe. The main countries from which residents of Cyprus returned in April 2023 were Greece with 34,0% (46.086), the United Kingdom with 8,5% (11.482), France with 4,2% (5.664), Italy with 3,7% (4.962) and Hungary with 3,6% (4.886). Regarding the prices of packages offered by travel agents, Mr. Kelepeshis told us that despite inflation and skyrocketing energy costs, prices are slightly increased compared to last year.
From Insider magazine May
