No let-up in Cyprus’ tourism slide

British market is in the doldrums

Figures for tourism arrivals in March confirm that there has been no let-up in the relentless slide of Cyprus’ tourism industry this year, with figures showing arrivals down 6.1% year on year in March to 104,316 people. This brought the cumulative fall in the first quarter of 2007 to 3.9%.

And this time, you can’t blame the drop on Easter, as the feast was celebrated in April in 2006 and April 2007 in both the Western and the Orthodox churches.

The main cause of the poor figures is a steep drop in the number of arrivals from the UK, down 14.1% in the first quarter compared with the same period of 2006.

The British market, which accounts for more than half of arrivals in Cyprus, has been hit by a combination of rising interest rates at home, which is painful for highly indebted home-owners, as well as much higher airfares to Cyprus as a result of continued high energy prices and what seems to be a non-stop series of hikes in airport charges.

Add to that a fall in capacity owing to the demise of ajet, which is only slowly being filled by newcomers such as Monarch, and it is no surprise that arrivals from this key market are down.
The outlook for British arrivals for the rest of the year is not good either, as another interest-rate increase from the Bank of England expected next month will eat into disposable income.

From Russia (and Greece and Sweden) with love

Amid all the gloom there is some good news, however. Arrivals from Russia were up 18.4% year on year in the first quarter to 6,559, thanks no doubt to the government’s sustained effort to improve visa turnaround times.

The government has also pledged to issue multiple entry visas for Russian nationals within 24 hours.

Arrivals from Greece have also risen strongly, one hopes not only because of the long-running strike at the universities. Arrivals from Greece rose by 14.2% year on year to 24,239 in the first quarter.

The Swedish market has also grown strongly this year, with arrivals up by 12% year on year in the first quarter, thanks perhaps to a krona that appreciated in 2006.