Cyprus Deputy Minister of Tourism Kostas Koumis said on Friday that he is very optimistic for the 2023 season, noting this year will see increased tourist inflows, apart from Cyprus’ main market, the UK, from Poland, France, Scandinavia as well as the new market of Saudi Arabia.

In statements following a meeting with a delegation of the Social Democrats, headed by EDEK president Marinos Sizopoulos, Koumis reiterated the Deputy Ministry’s target for 2023 for an increase in arrivals between 5% and 10% compared with last year.

“We are very optimistic, we expect an increase from an array of markets,” he said, noting that Cyprus’ main tourist market, the UK, is expected to yield a small rise in arrivals compared with last year. But it is important to maintain this market to these levels, he added.

Koumis also noted that increased tourist inflows are expected from Poland, France, noting that it is possible to have positive developments from all four Scandinavian countries, despite the initial negative projections for two of these countries.

“And there are also some other new markets we began investing in, such as Saudi Arabia from which we expect to have some very positive results,” the Deputy Minister added.

In 2022 tourist arrivals amounted to 3.2 million, up by 65% year on year, despite the loss of Cyprus’ second largest tourist market, Russia, after the EU imposed sanctions on Moscow due to the war in Ukraine. The annual rise in arrivals was driven by tourist inflows from EU countries, such as Poland, France, Germany which marked historic records.