Record number of Cypriots expected to travel for the holidays

Holiday travel by Cypriots for Christmas and New Year are on the rise, mirroring the trend seen during the summer months, and is expected to surpass 2019’s record numbers.

According to the president of the Association of Cyprus Travel Agents (ACTA) Haris Papacharalambous, popular destinations such as Greece, the United Kingdom, and other European countries remain consistent choices for Cypriot travellers.

According to Papacharalambous, it appears that the number of Cypriot travels abroad in 2023 is set to exceed the previous record of around 1.4 million trips in 2019.

“The workload for most people in the next weeks is set to decrease as we’re in the final week of Christmas, and the majority of reservations have been processed,” he said.

He stressed that those who have not made reservations by now might struggle to find available seats on flights or accommodations, and if they do, the prices could be “significantly high.”

Papacharalambous, however, said that travel packages with secured seats at fixed prices, remain available.

He added that if someone wishes to customise their own package with different flights or include destinations without pre-booked seats, they might end up paying more.

He then pointed out that travel prices haven’t shown significant fluctuations beyond the general inflationary increase seen across all sectors, hence the high number of Cypriot travellers.

Regarding the rise in Cypriot travels, Papacharalambous attributed it partly to the increased availability of destinations compared to 2019 due to better connectivity, especially during the winter season.

“Visits to European capitals are popular during the winter. More distant destinations, such as the Far East, are also on the rise, but in a much smaller percentage.

“We tend to stick to our preferences, considering that choices also depend on available flights. When someone plans a four-day trip, destinations with direct flights take priority,” Papacharalambous concluded.