A coordinated action plan to promote Paphos in German and Austrian cities is currently being created.

Seven new flights a week operated by airline Germania were recently announced that will connect Paphos with five German airports from March next year. These are: Dusseldorf, Berlin, Hamburg, Bremen and Erfurt.

In addition, low cost airline NIKI will begin twice weekly flights from Vienna to Paphos in the same month. The airline has been flying between Larnaca and Vienna since January this year.

“We recently had a meeting with hoteliers, other interested parties and marketing experts to plan how to best penetrate the German market, as from March 2015 the new flights will commence,” manager of the Paphos regional board of tourism Nasos Hadjigeorgiou said.

“We have decided to participate in several exhibitions in Germany and Austria between now and April 2015. We are also organising special presentations and workshops for industry professionals and have already undertaken one in Vienna, three others are happening soon in towns in Germany,” he said.

The coordinated effort will also see German travel agents visiting Paphos on presentation trips, so they may prepare the best packages and deals possible.

“The feedback has been extremely positive,” he said. “We are also planning a welcome event for the first flights to arrive in March next year.”

The action plan may also include utilising local media in Germany – such as radio and print outlets – in cities where flights will commence.

“There are in excess of 25,000 additional air seats for the summer period next year from Germany to Cyprus and we want to secure a substantial portion of that,” Hadjigeorgiou said.

He said the new flight schedule is a serious and positive development for the whole of Cyprus. “We feel confident that we will do well in developing tourism from Germany and Austria and other German speaking markets,” he added.

Source: Cyprus Mail