The hoteliers of the free province of Famagusta were dissatisfied with the government's measure to reduce the power of the Cyprus Flight Pass, with PASYXE Famagusta President Doros Takka telling KYPE that Russia's major travel agents would send the message that the bookings over 20%.
He added that "the last Decree of the Ministry of Health included a measure which caused great upset in tourism. In particular, the validity of the Cyprus Flight Pass was reduced to seven days, and when this period expires, tourists will be required to undergo a PCR or rapid test, which they will show when requested.
This, he continued, "is a very negative development, this measure was not well received by foreign travel agents and more so by the Russians. "In fact, in the free province of Famagusta we have only tourists from Russia and in fact large tourist agents of the country, such as Biblio Globus and Tui Russia, contacted me and said that with this measure Cyprus will stop accepting tourists beyond seven days." .
Answering a relevant question, Mr. Takkas said that "Russian tourists are not willing to go to the trouble and the expenses after seven days to undergo a PCR or rapid test. "It is much easier for these tourists to go on holiday to Egypt, which opens very soon to other countries, with the result that Cyprus is greatly influenced."
He added that "there are provinces of Russia where the flights are every ten days, which for the free province of Famagusta are very advantageous and efficient because we want tourists to have more nights. "The big tour operators in Russia have told me that we should expect a reduction in bookings, which will exceed 20%."
At the same time, Mr. Takkas described as "reckless and careless the action of the Council of Ministers to adopt the specific measure of the Ministry of Health, which offers absolutely no result other than harm and was made for internal consumption and satisfaction of the people who have not been vaccinated. protest. There has been a big problem in tourism, especially in August, the best month of the summer, in fact, "we take our eyes off ourselves".
To another question, he replied that he had contacted "all the competent bodies and explained that the Cyprus Flight Pass should last for at least two weeks, at the same time that in other European countries they are valid for one and two months. The hoteliers of the free province of Famagusta can not yet explain why Cyprus in the heart of August, the pre-eminently summer month, took such an action ".
Regarding the cases of coronavirus found at the airports of Cyprus, Doros Takkas said that "these are negligible" and called on everyone to refer to the announcements of the Ministry of Health, which are issued daily on this issue.
Asked to state what the industry is asking the government to do, he replied that "we are protesting against this issue and asking for the Cyprus Flight Pass to be restored for at least two weeks." As he said, "I had the opportunity to discuss the issue with both the Minister of Transport, Communications and Works Giannis Karousos and the Deputy Minister of Tourism Savva Perdios, who told me that on this issue, unfortunately, the opinion of the Ministry of Health passed."