Costas Koumis, the Cypriot Minister of Tourism, confirmed at a recent press conference the increase in tourist arrivals and tourism revenue on the island.
Arrivals increase by 27%
Asked about the tourism outlook for 2023, he cited this year as “a significant increase of around 27% in arrivals and a notable increase of around 34% in revenue”.
Speaking at a workshop organized in Larnaca by the Association of Cyprus Tourism Enterprises (ACTE), Costas Koumis said: “We hope that this trend will continue until September and until mid-October.”
“We monitor the market minute by minute and strive to achieve the best possible results.”
Costas Koumis said the French market has been on an upward trajectory in recent years, “especially this year there is a significant increase, which we welcome”.
Koumis said: “August seems to be the best month ever in the history of Cypriot airports with around one and a half million passengers. »
“The UK market is the most important tourist market in Cyprus and unfortunately many flights have been affected by the air traffic control issue in the UK.”
The minister stressed: “The problem was resolved a few hours after it started and flights resumed. However, several flights were affected in Cyprus and other countries. “For Larnaca Airport, a total of 24 flights were affected, of which six were canceled but are postponed until today. “In addition, once the problem was resolved, several delayed flights departed from UK airports.” “For Paphos airport, 21 flights were affected, with four cancellations. However, their departure has been postponed.
Cyprus Airways breaks its record in July
Cyprus Airways, the national airline, recently announced that it carried 77,656 passengers in July 2023, an increase of 70% compared to the same month last year. This is a record number of passengers for the airline in recent years.
The airline attributed the increase in passengers to the addition of the new Airbus A220 to its fleet, as well as high demand for travel to Cyprus during the summer months.
In July, Cyprus Airways operated 548 scheduled flights, 211 more flights than last year. The airline also carried 41% more passengers on its scheduled flights compared to June 2019, the company’s highest benchmark, before the start of the pandemic.
