Cyprus is experiencing an upswing in the summer: You can do it without the Russians

Created: 08/11/2022 11:37 am

Tourism, a key sector, is growing significantly again in Cyprus - and that's without Russian holidaymakers, who otherwise contribute a fifth to sales in Cypriot tourism.

The backgrounds.

Athens/Nicosia – Nowhere else in Europe were travelers from Russia so important: Until now, the holiday destination of Cyprus firmly believed that without Russian tourists in the travel industry on Aphrodite's Island, nothing would work.

A fallacy, as the half-year balance of this year's travel season in Cyprus shows.

Cyprus: Before the Ukraine war, 800,000 Russian tourists would have been expected in 2022

They always came in droves, they were also very willing to spend.

So it was no wonder that Cypriot tourism managers in the travel hotspots of Larnaca, Limassol and Paphos saw their future in bleak light when the first EU sanctions were imposed on Russia after the Russian army invaded Ukraine on February 24.

Suddenly there were no more direct flights from Moscow, St. Petersburg and elsewhere to the Mediterranean island.

Since then, the sunny island has only been accessible indirectly, for example from Moscow via Istanbul.

Charis Loizidis, head of the largest Cypriot hotel association CYHMA, explains that 800,000 Russian tourists are expected to visit Cyprus this year.

Originally.

Only 17,000 Russians came from the beginning of January to the end of June.

In 2019, 782,000 of a total of exactly 3,976,777 officially registered vacationers from all over the world were Russians, which means a share of 19.7 percent.

Travelers from Russia also contributed a good fifth to turnover in Cypriot tourism.

Only the British left more money on the island.

Loizidis complains: "For us, the Russian market was wiped out from one day to the next." In the pre-corona year 2019, the key industry tourism had revenues of just under 900,000 in Cyprus (excluding the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, which is not recognized under international law). 2.7 billion euros generated.

This corresponded to a 15 percent share of Cyprus' gross domestic product (GDP).

Nissi Beach on Cyprus: Nowhere in Europe were travelers from Russia as important as in Cyprus.

(Archive image) © Sofia Lambrianidou/Imago

Cyprus tourism income is rising again despite the Ukraine war

A travel season without Russians?

That gave rise to fears of the bad in Cyprus, after two already disastrous years of Corona, mind you.

But now the all-clear can be given.

Not only the arrivals of tourists from abroad in Cyprus have increased compared to the previous year, tourism income is also increasing sharply again - despite the total failure of the Russian market.

According to the Cypriot statistical office Cystat, a total of 849,058 holidaymakers from abroad arrived in Cyprus in the first five months of the current year.

That is three times more than in the corresponding period of the previous year.

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Nevertheless: Compared to the first five months of the pre-Corona year 2019, this means a decrease of 24.3 percent.

From January to May 2019, 1,121,361 tourists had flown to Cyprus.

Without Corona, without the Ukraine war.

Furthermore, Cypriot tourism revenue in the period from January to May 2022 amounted to 543 million euros.

Although that is almost 100 million euros less than in the first five months of 2019, it is significantly more than the 123 million euros achieved in the corresponding period of the previous year.

Cyprus: Holidaymakers from the EU compensate for the total loss of Russia

In the first five months of 2020, tourism revenue in Cyprus was only 115.3 million euros - due to corona.

Meanwhile, the number of tourist arrivals in Cyprus in June of this year is also available.

They confirm the further, significant recovery of the travel industry.

The number of tourist arrivals in Cyprus in June 2022 was 372,324 compared to 184,159 in June 2021, an increase of 102.2 percent year-on-year.

Tourist arrivals in Cyprus in the first six months of the year totaled 1,221,382, compared to just 340,984 in the same period of 2021.

The month of June should also have brought a further increase in tourism income (data are not yet available), in July tourism in Cyprus experienced a boom.

Sequel follows.

According to industry observers, the total loss of Russian vacationers on Cyprus, who were previously considered indispensable, is being compensated for by the increased arrivals of tourists, particularly from Great Britain, Germany and other EU countries.

This is the realization after the first months of the Ukraine war: Tourism in Cyprus was still suffering badly from the insidious corona virus, but hardly from the Ukraine war.

It is also possible without Russians, even in Cyprus.