CYPRUS: Russian tourist arrivals to drop “up to 30-40%”

The number of Russian tourists visiting Cyprus is expected to drop by 30-40% in 2015, a concern which has mobilised all stakeholders in the tourist industry to minimise the impact by offsetting arrivals from other markets, Victor Mantovani, the President of the Association of Cyprus Travel Agents (ACTA) said.

For the winter months, tourism from Russia in general is about 50-60% less than in the past.
“We estimate that for the summer things will not be much better and that there will be a reduction of up to 30-40% for various reasons. The main reason is the rouble which has depreciated, in addition to the crisis in Ukraine, the measures taken by the EU against Russia, the Schengen area where problems arise with visas, and the overall economic situation," Mantovani said.
For Cyprus, he said, “the reduction is estimated to be less than in other European countries because of the Schengen Treaty – as Cyprus does not belong to the Schengen countries – so the issuance of visas for Cyprus will be much easier than for Spain, Greece and other European countries, and this may help somewhat.”
He noted that other tourist markets, such as the UK, Germany and other European countries, will be better for Cyprus.
“We must draft a long-term strategy to create the right mix of markets, so that we do not depend only on one or two markets, and we mush create an attractive product,” he added. Cyprus, he said, has not yet created a tourist branding of its own.