Mountain tourism has seen a sharp decline due to the wars in Ukraine and Israel, while another exacerbating factor is the continuous increases in fuel prices in recent months.
Many visitors are opting for short-distance excursions, and it seems that some travel agencies have removed mountain and Troodos trips from their itineraries due to these price hikes.
Speaking to Phileleftheros, Konstantinos Konstantinou, the operator of the Troodos Tourism Development and Promotion Company (ETAP), commented on the current situation.
The significant negative impacts began during the winter season as there was almost no snow this year, resulting in the ski resort remaining closed and traffic being limited mainly to weekends and specific communities.
According to Konstantinou, a large portion of daily visitors came from Israel, but due to the war, it’s not feasible for many to visit Cyprus and consequently Troodos.
“The Israelis used to come to Cyprus, rent cars, and go on excursions to the countryside. This number of visitors has significantly decreased, as has religious tourism,” he explained, noting a considerable decline in Russians visiting religious monuments in the Troodos area as well.
All these factors, combined with the rise in fuel prices, have adversely affected mountain resorts.
The ETAP operator highlighted that this is a remote area for which visitors have to travel a distance.
Fuel price hikes have also had significant impacts on mountain resort tourism. As Konstantinou pointed out, many day trips from the Ayia Napa area and the Famagusta province, where many excursions were organized by local travel agencies to Troodos, have been cancelled.
“Due to the significantly increased cost of these excursions, travel agencies from the Famagusta province have stopped organizing trips to the mountains. Now we have daily excursions from Paphos and Limassol and from some travel agencies specializing in niche tourism based in Troodos.”
