Akis Vavlitis, chairman of the association of tourism enterprises, said the fall in the rouble caused by the trouble between Russia and the Ukraine has led to a slight fall compared with2013.

June through October look good, he said, and the aim was to raise tourist arrivals this year between 3% and 5%.

“However, it will all depend on developments in Ukraine and Russia and the reason is that it will possibly start to affect the world economy as experts are saying, and this will also affect Europe and tourism,” Vavlitis said.

Arrivals from Russia reached 610,000 in 2013, showing a rapid rise as opposed to the UK, the island’s main market, which has continuously dropped in recent years.

Arrivals from the UK reached 890,000 in 2013 and Vavlitis said he hoped that the market was beginning to stabilise.

Traffic from Scandinavian countries also looked promising this year compared with 2013, he added.

Source: Cyprus Mail