Coronavirus: Vaccine programme, EU support will see tourism recovery says Anastasiades

Cyprus is paving the way towards a significant tourism recovery through vaccinations and the support of European funds, President Nicos Anastasiades said on Tuesday.

Anastasiades was speaking after a visit to the Glafkos Clerides Larnaca airport where he met Transport Minister Yiannis Karousos and Deputy Minister of Tourism Savvas Perdios as well as other tourism-related bodies.

“We are on the path to significant recovery of the tourist product which is one of the main assets of the Cypriot economy,” he said.

Travel and tourism’s contribution to GDP was 22.7 per cent in 2019, according to New York-based data technology company Knoema.

During the meeting, Anastasiades said tourism recovery and resilience projects feature prominently in the national recovery plan he outlined on Monday. The scheme will be funded through €1.2bn from the EU’s Recovery and Resilience Facility in addition to €1.8bn from the Policy Coherence Fund.

Britain and Russia are among the country’s main tourist markets. However, the scheme will help promote Cyprus as a tourist destination to all countries, the president said.

Works include the upgrading of tourism-related infrastructure including those in the mountain areas and the creation of authentic experiences in the rural communities of the island.

The country is also expected to assess various issues related to tourism raised due to the implementation of strict health protocols to prevent the spread of coronavirus, Anastasiades added.

“We can maintain hope and optimism taking into consideration the speed of the vaccination process and always with reservation,” he said.

Revenue from tourism experienced a fall of 87.3 per cent year on year for the period January to August 2020, estimated at €235.6m compared with €1.857 billion for the same period in 2019, Cyprus statistical service (Cystat) data shows.