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Tourists have taken a liking to Cyprus in December

08:07, 9 февраля 2012

December is no longer one of the “low” months in Cyprus for Russian tourist market. According to Cyprus Tourism Organization head office, at the end of 2011 there were 53% more Russian tourists, compared to last year – 6.1 thousand people. And guests from Russia are not only enjoying the beaches, as they used to, but trying out the ski-slopes as well. But the latter are still a small part of the tourist flow, the Cyprus authorities say.

 

Also, such data was made public by The Statistical Service of Cyprus. According to them, Russian tourists took the fourth place in December 2011, giving way only to Great Britain (over 21 thousand tourists), Greece (more than 10 thousand) and Germany (almost 7 thousand).

 

The total Russian tourist flow to Cyprus in 2011 amounted to 330 thousand people, which is 49% more than in 2010. The overall increase in inbound tourism is not that big – only about 10% or 2.4 million tourists.

 

According to Russian tour operators, the income from Cyprus in 2011 was divided quite unevenly. Several big companies bought out a huge share of hotel rooms and had to drop the prices in order to fill them with tourists. But according to Svetlana Afanasyeva, head of the Greece and Cyprus department of DSBW-Tours, the low-balling on Cyprus was not as hard as the one in Greece. The main reason being balanced transportation.

 

Yet the RATA-news source noted the rise in the tourist flow to Cyprus during the New Year holidays. During this period local hotels offer special entertainment programs for Russian tourists with some national color: pancakes, caviar and other truly Russian attributes. Mrs. Afanasyeva also said that the island’s ski-resorts will probably never be as popular as the beaches, because snow on the slopes is not available at all times.

 

As usual, many people saw the “Egyptian footprint” in the rise of Cyprus’s popularity. But as Elena Bondarenko, head of the Cyprus department at Vand International Tours, said, it’s very doubtful that Cyprus took some of the Egyptian tourist flow due to countries being in different price segments. According to her, Cyprus hotels were booked out since May, and even in October, when the season was almost over, some hotels were at a stop-sale. “I think it’s just that Cyprus’s time has come, and the island is winning the hearts of our tourists”, - concluded Mrs. Bondarenko.

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