Having almost covered the first ten days of June, the descent of tourists is expected to slowly begin to increase. Market professionals note that we are not going to reach last year's levels, however the large reduction predicted in the previous months compared to last year is expected to be reduced.
A big bet of those in charge of tourism is tourists from Israel. Since March, when the incident at the British Bases occurred, they have essentially been lost, a fact that has also greatly affected the industry's revenues, as Israelis were in the highest positions in terms of per capita expenditure on the part of tourists.
Observing through the Hermes Airports website the arrivals of the last few days, a noticeable increase in flights from Israel (Tel Aviv and Haifa) is recorded. This fact is partly related to the fact that we have entered the summer season par excellence, but also to the ceasefire agreed between Israel and the US on the one hand and Iran on the other. Of course, this had broken in some cases, as was the case in the last two days, but the military conflicts remain in remission compared to the first days of the war.
In particular, after a search on the Hermes website, we found that today, Tuesday, 13 flights from Israel arrive at Larnaca airport and six at Paphos airport. Tomorrow, Wednesday, 14 flights arrive at Larnaca airport and seven at Paphos airport.
Speaking to "F", the president of the Association of Travel and Travel Agents (ACTTA), Haris Papacharalambous, noted that indeed for a few days now there has been an increase in flights from Israel, mainly due to the situation in the country and the wider region, despite the fact that we have entered the summer season, as he said. Mr. Papacharalambous expressed the assessment that we are not going to reach last year's numbers, however the situation is expected to improve in the coming period.
Specifically, he estimated that in the whole year, a loss in arrivals is expected to occur at a rate of about 13%. However, this figure, he pointed out, translates to about 700 million. loss, quite a significant amount for the industry, but also for the economy.
According to the president of ACTTA, after the drone incident at the British Bases, there were mishandling by all sides, however, he blamed much of the blame on the media. This, he explained, due to the over-promotion of certain events, the transmission of negative news and the transfer of news without fully ascertaining their extent and importance, resulting in a large number of cancellations by tourists, who eventually went to other destinations. As Mr. Papacharalambous said, when you lose the tourists, you are not going to win them back, therefore, the whole effort should be postponed until next year.
In addition to the above, there is also increased traffic to our island by English tourists. The largest tourist market in Cyprus seems to be making a dynamic comeback with the start of the summer season par excellence, as shown by the drops that are taking place towards Cyprus.
Specifically, on the Hermes website, there are 12 flights from England for today Tuesday to Larnaca Airport and 12 to Paphos Airport. Tomorrow, Wednesday, there are 14 flights to Larnaca and 19 to Paphos. In fact, these numbers are only from airports in England and not in Scotland or Wales. Equally important, is the large number of flights to Paphos, which even exceeds Larnaca, as it is particularly preferred by English tourists, with many of them having bought permanent residence in the province.
