The Deputy Ministry of Tourism promotes our country as a tourist destination, it does not put pressure on anyone, it plans promotion and advertising programs for Cyprus in cooperation with other tourism organizations, said the Deputy Minister, Kostas Koumis.
Asked by KYPE if there is an agreement between the Republic of Cyprus and TUI or if pressure was exerted to end the organized tours in the territories occupied by the specific organization, Mr. Koumis said that in this case, as in many other cases, "we are referring to a campaign promotion of our country". These campaigns involve two parties, he added, saying that "we never choose to make any information public." He explained that the Deputy Ministry plans advertising campaigns either in collaboration with other tourism agencies, or on its own, and "we never include in any campaigns destinations that fall under the occupied territories."
The policy of the Deputy Ministry of Tourism is always stable, he noted. "We do not cooperate with any tour operator who runs accommodation programs in the occupied territories."
Asked if TUI had done this, Mr Koumis said he would not make a statement regarding any tourism organisation.
Regarding the crossings of tourists coming from the legal ports and airports of the Republic of Cyprus and going to the occupied territories, the Deputy Minister of Tourism said that this concerns the Regulation of the Green Line that allows persons from the EU who arrived in our country to pass the roadblocks to the occupied territories. "This is the Green Line Regulation, we haven't touched it. We plan promotion actions. The Regulation has been adopted for years by the Republic of Cyprus and we respect it".
Source: KYPE
