An increase in both tourist arrivals and tourism revenues has been recorded in Cyprus to date, stated the Deputy Minister of Tourism Kostas Koumis, adding that the Deputy Ministry will go to Finland, Sweden and France next month for contacts with the protagonists of the world market.
Besides, both Mr. Koumis and Maria Kouroupi, Senior Communications Manager of Hermes Airports, reported that flights to Cyprus airports were affected by the problem that arose yesterday in the air traffic monitoring system in the United Kingdom, with delays and cancellation of 6 flights for Larnaca airport and 4 for Paphos airport, which are expected to depart today.
In statements in Larnaca, in the context of a workshop organized by the Association of Tourism Enterprises of Cyprus (STEK) and asked about the topic of tourism for 2023 in Cyprus, the Deputy Minister replied that this year "there is a significant increase of 27% in arrivals and a significant increase in revenues of the order of 34%".
"We expect this course to continue in September and until mid-October," he said and noted that "as the Deputy Ministry of Tourism we are monitoring the market minute by minute and striving for the best possible results."
Answering another question, Mr. Koumis said that "tourism exhibitions in which we participate are constantly there, but at the same time there are also needs for regular communication with the protagonists of the global market". In the second week of September, he said, "we will go to Finland and Sweden for contacts, followed by a visit to France at a very important exhibition."
He added that "French is a market that has been on the rise in recent years in Cyprus, while this year in particular there has been a significant increase, which we welcome."
"French is a market where we expect to do even better in the near future," he said.
Asked about this, Mr. Koumis replied that "on May 12, Cyprus signed a Memorandum of Cooperation with Greece and Lebanon, the three Ministers of Tourism are in communication and very likely we will have a joint meeting in October". "Cyprus always expects to benefit from these partnerships", he noted.
For her part, Maria Kouroupi, Senior Communications Manager of Hermes Airports, said that "August looks set to end as the best month we've ever had at Cypriot airports".
"We estimate that we will book around one and a half million passengers and these results are very good, since it seems that the time is also moving above the levels of 2019", he noted.
We believe, Ms. Kouroupi added, "that there is connectivity and it is a very good basis for how we move forward". "We are working with all the relevant Ministries and the Deputy Ministry of Tourism so that we can extend the summer season," he said.
Flights affected by the problem in the UK, those canceled are being rescheduled
In response to a question about the problem that arose yesterday with the air traffic control system in the United Kingdom, the Deputy Minister of Tourism replied that "the first information is about a cyber attack that affected the air traffic systems of Britain, Italy as well as other countries, since these systems are systemic'.
Unfortunately, he continued, "we were also affected by this problem, since we had some cancellations and significant delays in a number of flights." "As the British and Italian governments have announced, the problem has been resolved and let's hope that we will not have similar phenomena in the coming days and months," he said.
He also noted that "British is the most important tourist market in Cyprus and unfortunately a large number of flights were affected by the problem that arose".
For her part, Ms. Kouroupi said that "the problem has been solved a few hours after it started and flights from the United Kingdom have resumed. However, the problem affected several flights both in Cyprus and in other countries".
He added that "for Larnaca airport, a total of 24 flights were affected, six of which were canceled but are being rescheduled for today. Also after the problem was resolved several flights were departing from UK airports which had been delayed."
He also stated that "a total of 21 flights were affected for Paphos airport, of which four were cancelled, however they have been rescheduled to depart today".
"From the problem created in several airports located in the greater London area, more than 7 thousand passengers were affected" he said and noted that "we believe that there will be rescheduling of flights in the coming days as well, since there was a chain effect at the airports".
Responding to an additional question on the matter, Ms. Kouroupi said that "flights concerning Cyprus were not affected by the problem that arose at airports in Italy."
Source: KYPE