Tourist arrivals in Cyprus from Russia in 2014 estimated at 800,000

Cyprus Tourism Organisation (CTO) estimates that tourist arrival from Russia will reach 800,000 in 2014 marking a steep increase of 25% year on year.

A CTO delegation headed by its President Alecos Orountiotis held contacts with tourist operators.

"The meetings showed that the impressive course of tourist arrivals from Russia in the past years will continue in 2014," a press release issued by CTO notes.

CTO describes a decision taken by Russian`s two largest tour operators to increase their programmers for Cyprus as particularly encouraging, noting that the country`s rest operators will maintain their capacity for Cyprus at the same levels. It also notes that a large Russian tour operator that has not included Cyprus in its destinations will begin tours to the island.

"Taking into account these positive and significant developments, CTO estimates that arrivals from Russia in 2014 are expected to reach 800,000 marking a new impressive increase of 25%," the Organisation adds.

CTO believes that the recently signed open skies agreement between Russia and Cyprus will contribute to the above estimates.

"The said agreement is expected to be particularly helpful to tackling the problem of tourism seasonality," CTO concludes.