Filenews 30 December 2023 - by Adamos Adamou
Despite the closure of European airspace and of course the Cypriot airspace to Russian aircraft and companies in the context of sanctions against Russia triggered after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, several Russians continue to arrive on the island for tourism mainly through third countries.
According to official data from the Statistical Service, until November there were 61,796 tourist arrivals from Russia, a number that is not insignificant, given that there is no longer a direct connection between the two countries.
It is further noted that the number of almost 62,000. The number of Russians who visited the island causes a sensation, possibly due to the Russian community in the free areas, exceeds the corresponding number of even European countries with which there is a direct air connection and reveals to some extent their preference for leisure trips and holidays on our island.
Besides, the Russian market was for many years the second largest for Cypriot tourism, with arrivals reaching up to 824,494 arrivals in 2017. In the record year for Cypriot tourism, 2019, when total tourist arrivals reached 4 million, arrivals from the Russian market were estimated at 781,856.
2022, while the year in terms of the Russian market also started ideally, was marked by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, with sanctions following and with tourist Cyprus racing to close the gap of loss of Russian tourists with satisfactory results. Arrivals from Russia, however, fell in 2022 to just 45,303 for the whole year.
As mentioned, however, despite the sanctions that continue to exist against Russia in the first 11 months of 2023, Russian arrivals are already more than last year, reaching 62,000.
Market players who spoke to "F" said that the flow of tourists from Russia was expected due to the Russians living permanently on the island, but without hiding that it is also a positive development that shows the interest that the Russian market continues to show for Cyprus. They explained that despite the "prohibition" on direct flights, Russian tourists arrive at legal airports through third countries and mainly through Armenia, through Kuwait and through Bahrain that have a direct connection to Cyprus.
30-year tourism ties
Regarding the possible reason for the continued flow of Russians to the island, "F" contacted the Deputy Minister of Tourism Kostas Koumis who gave us the following statement: "The Russian market actually appeared in our country in 1994, three years after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, and I would say that it took off in 2013 when it exceeded 600,000 arrivals. It is known that following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the European Union imposed a series of sanctions on Russia that affected the transport and tourism sectors. In fact, the first sanctions were imposed in 2014, after the annexation of Crimea and Sevastopol, but the sanctions that really affected tourism as we know were imposed after Russia's all-out invasion of Ukraine.
Now, how can we explain the fact that more than 60,000 Russians visited our country this year? I think it is due to many factors, the fact that Russian citizens visit our country, as I mentioned by the thousands, for almost 30 years, bonds of friendship have been established and I think that a high percentage are repeat visitors. It is also due to the fact that the product we offer satisfies Russian visitors to a very high degree and perhaps some other factors. Personally, I would like this conflict to end as soon as possible, because it only sows misery, and at the same time I would like to wish peace throughout the world."
They are increasing in the occupied areas, but few remain
Market concerns that the occupied territories may turn into a "new" destination for Russian tourists seem to be confirmed, but for now the numbers, although increased, remain low.
Specifically, as Halkin Sesi had written in July, citing statistics from the pseudo-state's "tourism ministry" and reported by the PIO, the number of Russian nationals who crossed the pseudo-state through Turkey in the first five months reached 18,193, from 6,282 in the same period last year. During the same period, Russian arrivals to the free areas were slightly more than 20,000.
