The pandemic crisis and the implementation of the national strategy for tourism was the focus of the Deputy Ministry for 2021, Savvas Perdios said Thursday, during a press conference at the Presidential Palace. He unveiled the actions and steps taken in the last year and spoke of the plans for 2022, saying that he is optimistic. "2022 will be a better year than 2021", Deputy Minister said.

Perdios said that so far we have reached 50% of arrivals compared to 2019 and the revenue is expected to reach 60% of 2019. He said that although the situation is vague in light of the new variant, the Deputy Ministry continues with its plans and works tirelessly to implement the strategy set for Cyprus` tourism product.

He said that you cannot just press a button and expect the industry to restart but you need good planning and preparation. He praised the fact that Cyprus was one of the first countries which was ready when the airports reopened March 2021 and had briefed ahead of time its partners about the protocols in place. Cyprus was also ready when the EU introduced the new digital COVID pass.

According to figures, arrivals between January and October 2021 reached 1,691,030 compared to 612,975 in 2020 recording an increase 175.9%  but a decrease 54.3% compared to January-October 2019.

October arrivals were 392,000 compared to 339,000 in September and 332,000 in August.

Each visitor spent around 804 euro in the first nine months of 2021 compared to 685 in Jan-Sep 2019.

Asked about competitive markets he said that we always had to deal with other destinations that offer cheaper prices but noted that our aim is not to have cheaper prices and bad quality.

Perdios also said that apart from the traditional markets, Cyprus aims to attract visitors from other countries such as Poland, Czech Republic, Austria, Switzerland, Jordan and France.

He noted that Cyprus` new logo  "Love Cyprus" wants to attract both locals and Cypriots, adding that the budget for digital marketing is 5 mln in 2022 and the total budget for promotion and advertising is 25 mln. He referred to 12 new labels for Cyprus' tourism product such as Cyprus Breakfast, Taste Cyprus, Christmas Villages and Commandaria Route, saying that Cyprus wines are respected abroad and "the future belongs to us."

During the press conference, Perdios also referred to the scheme for local tourism, which was welcomed by Cypriots, as well as the funding given for new sunbeds and umbrellas and other projects at beach areas. He said that more than 126,000 persons benefited from the local tourism scheme in the months of January-November 2021 (July -August not included).
In July-August 2021 more than 78,000 persons benefited.

Perdios also made special reference to other forms of tourism in Cyprus such as cruise tourism and the fact that one of the biggest companies globally, Royal Caribbean, used Cyprus as a home port. He also referred to health tourism, religious tourism, sports tourism and the fact that L’ Etape by Tour de France will be taking place in Cyprus for the next 3 years.