The Minister of Commerce, Industry and Tourism of Cyprus, Neoclis Sylikiotis, discussed with officials from the tourism department at the beginning of November how to attract more Chinese tourists to Cyprus.
Sylikiotis stated after the meeting that he discussed with tourism officials how to make Cyprus a true destination for Chinese tourists and how to simplify the procedures for Chinese tourists traveling to Cyprus. He pointed out that the Cypriot government will take action to increase the number of Chinese tourists visiting Cyprus.
However, currently there are no direct flights from China to Cyprus, and travelers must transit through a third country, which is very unfavorable for attracting Chinese tourists to Cyprus. In September of this year, Dr. Winner Xing, President of Worldway Investment Immigration, was invited to visit Mr. Vassos Shiarly, the Minister of Finance of Cyprus, to elaborate on the feasibility and necessity of opening direct flights between China and Cyprus from the perspective of facilitating and promoting investment, property purchase, and tourism visits by Chinese citizens. Mr. Vassos Shiarly expressed strong agreement and proposed two options: one is a direct flight from China to Cyprus; the other is a direct flight from China to Cyprus extending to a location in Europe. Direct flights are expected to be launched in the summer of 2013, which will reduce travel time to only eight or nine hours from China to Cyprus, significantly shortening travel time and reducing transportation costs.
Data shows that the number of foreign tourists visiting Cyprus in 2011 increased by 11% compared to the previous year, and tourism revenue increased by 13% compared to the previous year. From January to September this year, the number of foreign tourists visiting Cyprus increased by 4.6% year-on-year. It is expected that tourism revenue in Cyprus will reach 1.9 billion euros (approximately 15 billion RMB) in 2012.
