According to Deputy Minister for Tourism Savvas Perdios, Cyprus hoped to see its first tourists back on the island by July.

He said that after Easter the ministry would restart communications with airlines and travel agencies and, later on in late April and early May, cultural institutions around the country will receive financial aid, with the aim of strengthening domestic tourism, including mountainous, rural and remote areas, by June.

Perdios said: “The new national tourism strategy is now a one-way street and we need to make the necessary changes to our product if we want to recover, at least partially, in 2021.”

He said Cyprus would have 60% fewer tourists – around 1.5 million people – this year and a full recovery would only be achieved in the next two or three years.

“If tourists will not come in July, but, for example, in August or September, we will have to adapt and change our plans accordingly,” Perdios said.

He also said that the emergency plan for 2020 had already been shared with tourism workers, who are hoping to see the first visitors by July.

Perdios, however, stressed that, until the country is risk-free, talking about numbers regarding tourism is illogical.

However, he said a plan has indeed been put into motion already.

“Due to decreased number of tourists we are likely to receive in the immediate future, we need to expand our horizons and integrate whatever strategy we had prior to the Covid-19 pandemic with a new strategy. We need to expand our market and our target.”

Perdios thinks that from now on tourists will be more reluctant to visit crowded places. Therefore, he said “the product we offer must be in line with the demand, as this is an ever-changing industry.”

Referring more specifically to the action plan, he said the ministry of foreign affairs had already launched a campaign in March, mainly targeted to people abroad, aimed at keeping Cyprus in the thoughts of potential visitors.

The campaign, which is still operative, uses the hashtags #staysafe and #betterdaysarecoming.

“We have a strategy in place in order to attract foreign markets, as well as a budget. However, everything will depend on how the situation will be once the country will be coronavirus-free.

Perdios added that, for the months of April and May, staff working at cultural institutions and museums have been trained to promote their material digitally, in order for people to enjoy culture while still respecting the health measures issued by the government.