Coronavirus: reinstating SafePass outdoors would be ‘setback’ for hospitality venues

The possible reinstatement of the SafePass outdoors would be a setback for businesses, the president of the hospitality venues association (Osika) Neophytos Thrasyvoulou said on Tuesday.

Speaking to the Cyprus News Agency, Thrasyvoulou said that the situation in the industry was worrying, as restaurants and bars, aside from having to recover financially after a hard year, they are also faced with the risks posed by the pandemic.

“The state has not announced any other measures to support our businesses since the end of July, not the deputy tourism ministry with the subsidised holidays for locals, nor the labour ministry with the support of employers and employees.”

He added that said the situation in the island’s tourist areas during weekdays is “tragic”.

“Our hope is to see Britain open up more to international travel after July 19,” he said, adding that the goal was the recovery of the tourism industry.

In that regard, the reinstatement of the SafePass would be a major blow as it would create several issues for the sector.

“The government needs to find a way to convince people to get vaccinated so that our economy can go back to being functional,” Thrasyvoulou said.

“Unfortunately, many businesses in our sector are still closed and more will follow suit, as they are heavily troubled from a financial standpoint. Our future is very uncertain.”