After attending the World Travel Market, Tourism Minister George Lakkotrypis said the London exhibition was special for Cyprus, as in 2018 the country will attract 1.3 million visitors from the UK, one third of its 4 million tourists.
He said that following his meetings, the sense is that tour operators and airlines are confident that despite the uncertainty over Brexit, Cyprus will retain the same numbers of inbound tourism from the UK with an upward trend.
“We are delighted by the fact that in a mature market such as the British one we can maintain our share of it and maybe even increase it. It is quite significant,” said Lakkotrypis.
He and the senior management of the Cyprus Tourism Organisation had the opportunity to update tour operators and the airlines on future plans, such as establishing the Ministry of Tourism from 2 January 2019, as well as the progress of major investments, like the new marinas, golf courses and the casino resort.
Asked about the revenue from tourism in 2018 the Minister said that it is expected to reach €2.7 bln.
“It is an increase; not as big as the arrivals, but the primary goal has been to recapture the share of the market we had lost over the previous 10 or 15 years,” said Lakkotrypis.
He added: “Truth be told, we had lost our competitiveness. The national tourism strategy 2030 stipulates that once we have regained our share of the market, we will turn to higher quality tourism, which of course requires an upgraded tourism product.”
Asked about the optimism for 2019 given that a no-deal Brexit scenario is very much alive, the Tourism Minister identified three potential risks from a hard Brexit.
First, the possibility of interrupting flights between the UK and the EU.
He said this is “almost inconceivable” given the tourism connections between EU’s southern countries and the UK and the business links between the UK and the European north.
The second risk, judged to be “the most serious one” is the possibility of a devaluation of pound sterling, which would decrease potential British tourists’ spending power.
Thirdly, the risk of problems surrounding border controls as the UK would likely be considered a third country in a no deal Brexit scenario. Lakkotrypis also dismissed this possibility as “almost nil”.
