Cyprus braces for massive slump in Russian touism

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Written by Linda Hohnholz

NICOSIA, Cyprus – Russian tourism to Cyprus is expected to drop dramatically next year, in a major blow to the industry.

NICOSIA, Cyprus – Russian tourism to Cyprus is expected to drop dramatically next year, in a major blow to the industry.

President of the Association of Cyprus Travel Agents (ACTA) Victor Mantovanis has told the state news agency that all stakeholders in the tourist industry are trying to minimize the impact by offsetting from other markets.

Currently, for the winter, Mantovanis said, outbound tourism from Russia, in general, is about 50-60 percent less than in the past.

“We estimate that for the Summer, under the current circumstances, things will not be much better and that there will be a reduction of around 30-40 percent for various reasons,” he said.

Just last month, the head of the Cyprus Tourism Organization gave a much brighter picture, saying he expected a fall of around ten percent in the numbers of tourists coming from Russia next year.

Angelos Loizou said the drop was predicted “due to ongoing factors affecting Russia.โ€

The last five years had seen an average rise of 27 percent annually, with 650,000 Russians choosing Cyprus for their vacation in 2013.

The CTO says it has been in contact with Russian tour operators, in an effort to present incentives that will counterbalance a potential decrease in tourist arrivals.

The ongoing situation in Ukraine has also been blamed for many Russians choosing to take vacations at home this year.

The EU has imposed several rounds of sanctions over Russia’s role in Ukraine’s crisis, including its annexation of the Crimea region in March and its support for pro-Russian separatist rebels fighting in eastern Ukraine.

This year has also seen a spate of bankruptcies in the Russian tourism industry.

About the author

Avatar of Linda Hohnholz

Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

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