According to the head of the Paphos regional board of tourism, Nasos Hadjigeorgiou, the Paphos tourism board, local hoteliers and representatives of Pafos 2017 will all be present at the ITB Berlin fair.
“Most of the hoteliers from the district will be there; it’s a very important fair for us and Paphos has participated for the last 25 or so years. The German market is a priority and this event is open to both the trade and the public. It’s important as it occurs just before the start of the summer season and it will give us an idea about how the bookings are looking and an idea of how the season will go,” he said.
He said that all stake holders will continue to forge ahead with plans to promote Paphos tourism abroad in March and April, ahead of the high season. The ITB Berlin will run from 9 to March 12.
According to ITB, the exhibition will cover 160,000m², and include participants from five continents and 185 countries. More than 10,000 exhibitors will be taking part. ITB are also expecting 200,000 visitors from both the trade and the public.
The Paphos tourism head said that as well as meeting travel organisations and associates, feedback at the event will provide a valuable source of information.
“We will be able to weigh up how we’re doing. We will also be distributing informative printed and electronic material about Cyprus and Paphos,” he said.
Hadjigeorgiou underlined the importance of the German market, noting that visitors from this area had greatly increased in the last eighteen months.
“A total of 112,000 Germans visited Cyprus in 2015, compared to 86,000 in 2014. There has been an increase in flights between Germany and Cyprus since 2014 and we aim to increase this still further. We have to capitalise on what we have already achieved,” he said.
He said that tourism officials and partners believe that further development of the German market will yield goodresults for both the summer and winter seasons in Cyprus.
Hadjigeorgiou said that increasing winter tourism remains an important goal for tourism partners, and that Germany could play an important role in helping to eliminate seasonality. This, he said, would greatly help in improving the local economy.
Source: Cyprus Mail
