Digital tourism campaigns reach a billion users

The digital campaigns for Cyprus holidays are reaching more than one billion smartphones a year, said Tourism Minister Savvas Perdios.

Perdios said his deputy ministry has stopped spending money on TV advertising, radio or magazines because of its limited budget compared to competitive markets, such as Turkey, Italy, and Spain.

“We have to be very targeted and get value for money as much as possible.

“So, the vast majority of the marketing we are doing is now digital.

“It gives us the chance to be very flexible, to reach customers where they want to be reached, and through our campaigns, we reach more than one billion smartphones a year.

“This is a massive number.”

He added that the searches for Cyprus today compared to 2019 are 30% higher because of targeted digital marketing.

“For a country like us, which has really changed its tourism identity, there’s no better tool than the internet to spread that message.”

Perdios said the country has moved on, with the help of digital marketing, from “the age of sun and sea” to an island rich in history and culture, full of authentic experiences available year-round, accessible to all at short distances from each other.

He stressed the importance of good digital content, saying that the deputy ministry mostly used local companies to create this content, stressing that there are a lot of good companies in Cyprus.

One digital campaign is “Heartland of legends”, a 3,000 kilometres route of authentic experiences which passes exclusively from the mountains, the rural and the remote areas of Cyprus.

“In this platform, you can find all these authentic experiences, giving the opportunity to small businesses to promote themselves easily to the public.

“We have helped them digitalise what they are offering and make it available to the public.”

His deputy ministry launched several schemes to help with the digital transition of businesses, supporting them financially to go digital.