The developments in the Middle East are troubling, but for now they have not shown to have any impact on tourist arrivals in Cyprus, which started 2024 "quite strongly", said the press representative of the Association of Travel and Tourism Agents of Cyprus (ACTA) Antonis Orthodoxou. announcing the organization of the 25th tourist exhibition "TRAVEL EXPO CYPRUS" on April 19 - 21, at the State Fair, in Nicosia.
The exhibition, jointly organized by ACTA and Display Art, will be opened on Friday, April 19, at 17.00:19 p.m., by the Deputy Minister of Tourism, Costas Koumis, and the Greek Ambassador to Cyprus, Ioannis Papameletiou, and it will be open to the public on the 20 and April 16.00 from 22.00 – 21 and on April 15.00 from 21.00 – 12. Entry for children under 4 is free, while for adults the entry price is XNUMX euros.
Speaking in the context of a press conference related to the "TRAVEL EXPO CYPRUS" exhibition, Mr. Orthodoxou said that this year's exhibition is of particular importance because the association is celebrating 70 years of operation this year. He added that "this specialized exhibition is characterized as one of the most successful exhibitions organized in Cyprus", attracting more than 10.000 visitors annually, while it is the only tourist exhibition held in Cyprus.
He said that the exhibition offers comprehensive information and information to travelers wishing to spend their holidays in Cyprus and abroad, as well as attractive travel packages from the exhibitors participating in the exhibition.
He also said that this year the Hellenic Tourism Organization (EOT), the Under-Minister of Tourism, travel agents, airlines, hotels, tourist resorts and regions, islands and municipalities of Greece will participate in the exhibition with a stand.
The Director of Tourism of the Deputy Ministry of Tourism, Annita Dimitriadou, said that the improvement and upgrading of the exhibition is noticeable year after year. He added that the Deputy Ministry of Tourism will have at the exhibition "a large stand where we will present the special interests in tourism and at the same time we will have a stand as an agro-tourism company".
The Head of EOT Cyprus Petros Saganas, after congratulating the Association on its 70 years of operation, said that "Cyprus is one of the important tourist markets of Greece", which is the "first destination of Cypriots abroad".
Mr. Saganas expressed the hope "for a good tourist year, given the geopolitical instability and the possible economic effects it may have on the consumers' wallets", while he wished that the tourist traffic to Greece and Cyprus would be good, after last year's record breaking year.
He also wished "that the number of Greeks visiting Cyprus will increase, because the balance is in favor of Greece", as he said.
Mr. Saganas also said that Greece is participating again this year with a large stand in which, in addition to EOT, 10 co-exhibitors (7 regions, 2 municipalities and 1 private company) participate, while he mentioned an event with dances and songs from Epirus by the Cyprus Islanders Association which will take place on Saturday at 17.00, as part of the exhibition.
Asked whether the number of tourist arrivals in Cyprus will be affected due to the developments in the Middle East, Mr. Orthodoxou said that tourism to Cyprus "started this year quite strongly" and this was helped by the early Catholic Easter, adding that due to this fact "more hotels opened than other years and much earlier".
"Certainly the situation (in the Middle East) is troubling, but for now it has not shown to have any effects," he added.
In turn, the Director of Tourism of the Undersecretary of Tourism said that it would be considered positive "if we stay at the levels of 2023 or if we have a small increase", adding that "we are working to have an increase".
Asked if Cypriot bookings for trips abroad had begun, Mr. Orthodoxou answered in the affirmative, adding that this year there were three three-day periods during which "bookings went very well."
He also said that bookings for Easter are going "very well", while "summer bookings are also going very well", which "could go even further", adding that compared to the corresponding period last year, reservations are "at the same levels".
Asked if there would be attractive package holidays at the show, ACTA's spokesperson said that after the pandemic COVID-19 "a lot of things have changed in what we mean by an attractive price because the costs have gone very high" (fuel, airlines, consumers, travel agents) and added that at the exhibition "there will be a wide range of (holiday) packages for various destinations". He also mentioned that there are packages that started last year and that concern Spain and Portugal and for which there was demand.
He noted that additional direct flights have been added to Greek islands and especially to Crete, where for July and August direct flights may reach 10 per week.
Source: KYPE