Addressing the annual general meeting of the Cyprus Hoteliers Association, Anastasiades noted that the season in 2014 will see increase in markets such as Russia, while traditional markets such as Great Britain will reverse its downward trend.

“The tourist sector constitutes a basic priority for the government and will remain as such,” Anastasiades said.

Reflecting on 2013, Anastasiades said it was a good year for tourism whose performance supported the economy in a very difficult time.

In 2013, Cyprus attracted a total of 2,405,390 tourists, assisting the economy to avoid a deep plunge despite gloomy forecast for a recession of 8.7% due to a €10 billion bailout that featured a haircut on uninsured banking deposits coupled with capital restrictions.

He referred to the efforts to launch new airline routes to and from Cyprus from eight large international air carriers.

“These efforts in parallel with open skies policy will continue with the aim of increasing the tourist arrivals,” he said.

Furthermore, Anastasiades noted that the government will continue targeted actions for the upgrading, enrichment and diversification of Cyprus tourist product, such as the licensing of an integrated casino resort, adding the legal framework will be submitted to the Parliament in the coming weeks.

The President also noted that the government acknowledges the institutional, procedural and legal distortions, which hinder the efforts for the improvement of the competitiveness of Cyprus tourist industry.

“In the coming period, the government in cooperation with the tourist industry and all stakeholders will focus to definitely rectify the distortions in a bid to render Cyprus a real competitive tourist destination,” he concluded.

Source: Famagusta Gazette