Speaking to state radio on Tuesday morning, ACTA Chairman Dinos Kakkouras said that although Russian arrivals had dropped, it appeared that Cyprus had once again become an attractive destination for visitors from England, Germany and even countries in central Europe like Austria and Switzerland.

“The arrivals of Russian and British visitors vary a lot,” commented Kakkouras. “Russian visits have dropped some 25% and perhaps even lower. These figures are – at this moment in time – just estimates as we need to wait until May to get the concrete figures. But we have also seen a huge rise in the number of British and German visitors. We have also seen a rise in the arrival of visitors from central and eastern Europe like Austria so we can expect a good year for tourism.”

He added: “There was always a target in place – dating back from a few years back – to increase the number of visitors to the island. The plan has so far worked but we expect even more arrivals. But of course, we mustn’t forget that outside factors can greatly affect the number of arrivals into Cyprus.

“With Russia, for example, the current political situation there has obviously resulted in the number of Russian visits dropping.”

Commenting on the current travel habits of permanent residents on the island, Kakkouras said it appeared that most locals had not been deterred by the current economic problems in Cyprus and were still opting to pack up their suitcases and dash to the airport more than just once a year.

“Traveling is still a high priority for locals in Cyprus,” continued Kakkouras. “They still save money with the intention of traveling abroad. The numbers show that there was an 8% increase in the number of Cypriot travellers when compared to 2013, which as we know was not a good year at all. The rise has continued for January and February this year too when compared to the relative months in 2014.”

“The last few years have seen most locals chose cheaper destinations when compared to travel habits of previous years. Many choose to go away to closer destinations for few days. The habits may have changed, but Cypriots still love to travel. Our numbers show that most locals travel more than just once a year.”

Kakkouras went on to say that it was too early to find out how many locals went abroad for Easter saying that those figures will be ready by the end of April, early May.

Source: InCyprus