The first quarter was encouraging, how do you see the continuation?
The only certainty is that the continuation is uncertain, I say this because with the pandemic and the war, no one can confidently predict percentages. The encouraging thing is that based on some data, it looks like the first quarter will be close to 70% of 2019. In that sense we did not do badly, given that in the first quarter we had the start of the war and the pandemic restrictions. So, based on what we see in bookings and also searches on the internet, the interest in holidays in Cyprus is very high, so we think it's achievable to achieve the target of doing better than last year. How much better, however, we don't know. Last year the year ended at 50%, the fact that this year started with 70% is a good development. But I repeat, we cannot know right now how we will move forward. However, the indications are encouraging and the target is achievable.
But searches do not always translate into bookings, do they?
Quite right, but they do allow us to have a picture and in real time of the interest of visitors to come to Cyprus. They show generally how much demand there is for travel but also specifically we can see how much demand there is specifically for Cyprus and from which countries. With the exception of Russia and Ukraine, we see that there is more demand for Cyprus from 2019 from other countries, and this is very important for us. And this is what we tried to achieve through our various trips to different countries in the last nine months.
With Greece you are completing a cycle of contacts in different countries. What picture are you forming? How encouraged are you?
I must say that we are very encouraged because the interest we have from different countries is increased compared to 2019 and this is no coincidence. It is directly related to the enhanced advertising of the last few years, and the efforts that we have made jointly with Hermes and the Ministry of Transport to increase air connectivity and the improvements that Cyprus has made to its tourism product, the boost that we gave to special forms of tourism, the 12 product labels that were implemented last year. In recent years we have been presenting abroad an image of Cyprus that is very different from the one that even those who have visited us knew, a much more improved, more upgraded image. This creates additional interest, I can say enthusiasm, even from those who know Cyprus and I think they know us well.
For example?
I can tell you something typical from the presentation we made in Greece. Even tourism industry professionals who have visited Cyprus many times were excited by what they saw and heard about what Cyprus has to offer, they saw things they had never seen before. Consequently, Cyprus is positioned in their minds as a timeless destination, full of authentic experiences.
Following is your trip to Saudi Arabia. What are you looking forward to?
I will be there with my friend the Minister of Transport and we are going to jointly formalize the cooperation between the two countries in the field of aviation. It is a new market for us, a promising one, so this is the second time we are visiting. The minister and I hope to come up with direct flights between Cyprus and Saudi Arabia starting this year, not only via Jeddah but also via Riyadh. This is a very important development and that is why we are both going, we just want to show the Saudi authorities the special interest of the government, of Cyprus in this effort. We will see our counterparts, the Civil Aviation, airlines of the country and we expect that after the trip some routes will be finalized.
What comes after Saudi Arabia?
We have another trip to the French market coming up, we want to make our mark this time in different regions.
How?
This time we will go to Alsace, with whom we will sign a memorandum of cooperation on specific forms of tourism.
Why in Alsace?
France is the highest quality and number one tourist destination in the world and I think it is very important for Cyprus to have the door open to cooperation with the best in the world. We can only gain from this cooperation. I am particularly pleased that we will sign a memorandum of cooperation.
What will it provide for, an exchange of tourists? How will we benefit?
The exchange of tourists comes at a later stage, this is moreover something that will be done through promotional activities by each side. For us, the memorandum of understanding is of particular importance because it will offer us the possibility of open communication and information on specific forms of tourism. Let me give you an example: The French have Christmas villages, in recent years we also have Christmas villages, we want to get know-how to make them even better. Another example, the French have the label "the most beautiful villages of France", something similar to our label, we will take know-how and experience from these people, they will help us to become better in special forms of tourism, they are more advanced than us and we want to use this. With the steps we have taken over the last few years, is it considered that we are filling the gap in the Russian market to a large extent, which will be hit by the war?[/B]
Certainly the figure of 800 thousand tourists from Russia is too large to be covered. Let us not forget that we have not had much time to act in this direction. There are no markets that handle such a large number of people with tour operators. But with the work that has been done over the last three years and our travel in the last nine months, yes, some of the markets that are doing better this year than in 2019, we could have made up a small percentage of the arrivals we lost to Russia. Exactly how much that percentage will be we are not in a position to know. But I would say that we could make up about 25% of Russian arrivals. That in absolute terms means close to 200 thousand from the secondary markets. That is why we have clearly said that arrivals this year will not be close to 2019. But I am convinced that the actions we have taken in recent years have made the tourism sector in Cyprus more resilient.
Are you also referring to the pandemic?
Yes, under other circumstances the tourism sector could have been brought to its knees by the blows it received in successive crises. Not only did we not fall to our knees but I think we will come out stronger because we invested in our tourism product, we also invested in improvements in other markets, which now allows us to be more resilient.
The rebranding effort was done under very difficult circumstances, in the middle of the pandemic. From a first assessment, are you satisfied?
I am absolutely satisfied because through our new logo and our new identity, we are promoting a different Cyprus, there is no longer the suggestion that we are exclusively a sun and sea destination, instead it is a modern, open-minded approach that can be applied to any specific form of tourism, it allows us to promote Cyprus as we want and moreover it is Social Media friendly. It is important for us to have a flexible logo that can be used everywhere, that can be adapted according to our communication needs, easily and quickly. I can say that from day one this change, which was made at a particularly difficult time due to the pandemic, was embraced by tourism professionals. From the presentations we make abroad we can see the big change, we are very satisfied with the work that has been done.
Another pillar is domestic tourism. The pandemic proved that Cypriots have honoured the country's tourism product. The subsidised holiday scheme, how much response has it registered?
I think that so far the subsidised holiday scheme has gone very well, so far we have covered almost a million overnight stays in the last two years. This year, in the three months that the scheme will run, we may reach 300 thousand nights, which is no mean feat since we are essentially talking about about 150 thousand tourists. We are really pleased to see this response from both our fellow citizens and tourism professionals interested in joining the scheme. I must point out that the results are not a fluke; they are the result of the efforts we made before the pandemic. Domestic tourism was included in the National Tourism Strategy as a priority market in January 2020, it was a conscious choice, precisely because we want to invest in Cypriots. Let's not forget that a foreign visitor may come to Cyprus for ten days, but a Cypriot is essentially a potential customer all year round, as he has 52 weekends to choose from. If, for example, he chooses five weekends to stay in a hotel, he is another visitor. So, it is up to us to improve the product and enhance it so that the local visitor also leaves his home to spend some beautiful days in the different places of our country. It is not only the Domestic Tourism Plan that has helped domestic tourism but also the fact that the new tourist identity of Cyprus, the new products, the special forms of tourism, push the local people to get out of their homes, out of their comfort zone, and rediscover Cyprus. This is important. The Domestic Tourism Scheme was done in such a way that one benefits from accommodation that does not offer full board, so that one can get out of the hotel and spend money on lunch, dinner and in local businesses.
In conclusion, I wanted to ask you about the Sponsorship Scheme for traditional eateries and traditional food products. What is this effort aimed at?
I must say that we have high expectations from this Project. From the first day the State Department was created, it has been a vision for us to announce such a program that clearly supports restaurants and outlets that respect the producer, the farmer and local products. We were short of money but fortunately we were given the opportunity to raise eight million through the EU Recovery Fund, which will be channelled in the coming years to the restaurant sector.
What exactly will the scheme be about?
It will be about restaurants and outlets offering Cypriot cuisine and Cypriot products. We don't mind if it is traditional Cypriot cuisine or modern Cypriot cuisine. It can be a combination of modern and traditional. What matters is that it is Cypriot cuisine and that Cypriot products are used. We can accept that a Cypriot taverna will have oil from Greece, France or Spain, but we cannot accept that it will serve Spanish olives, pork from China, etc. In order to get a grant to upgrade the aesthetics of one's establishment, and to have the opportunity for free promotion, one must respect local producers and the products of our country and those who make tables and chairs. In the eligible costs are many things that will help the aesthetic upgrading of these places. It is a serious incentive to get rid of plastic chairs, signs, advertising coolers and umbrellas and generally everything that causes unevenness and aesthetics. Through the funding they will have the opportunity to replace them with something that is aesthetically consistent with their space.
Another important aspect is the digital upgrade of these businesses, to have for example an online booking platform, an online ordering system, automated payments, etc. We want to help these businesses to take an important step that will help their growth.
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