CYPRUS: Russian tourist agency bankruptcy does not affects arrivals now

The bankruptcy of another Russian tourist agency will not affect the number of arrivals in Cyprus said President of the Association of Cyprus Travel Agents (ACTA) Victor Mantovanis, noting however that Cyprus should stop depending on a small number of markets.

Speaking on the sidelines of the 60th General Assembly of ACTA, he said that the Russian agency has channeled around 15,000 tourists during the summer period.

“Currently”, he added, “we are in September, so the bankruptcy will not affect the total number of arrivals” he said, expressing at the same time his concern over the closure of many tour operators in Russia.

Answering to a question he said that there are now 600-700 affected Russian tourists in Cyprus, waiting to see with which flights they will return to their country.

President of ACTA also said that Cyprus should reconsider its tourist policy, so as to stop being depended on only two countries, mainly Russia and UK which channel the 65% of tourists in Cyprus.

"This is not healthy," he said, adding that "we are not saying that we should abandon either Russia or UK, but we must also look into other traditional markets."

Mantovanis gave the examples of other major European markets like Germany, France and Italy.