Ayia Napa holds minimal hopes for tourism this year, but is confident that Cyprus will once more star as a tourism destination next year, its mayor Christos Zannetou told a conference on the challenges for the sector after the pandemic.
“Without tourism there is no economy since there are knock on repercussions not only for associated businesses but also others as importers of food and equipment as well as the construction sector,” he said.
He said it was essential now to subsidise employment and not unemployment — with businesses helped to operate and employ their staff and pay their taxes to the state.
Ayia Napa will, to the extent it can, provide support to businesses that operate within municipal boundaries and do everything it can to support the tourism sector.
He also highlighted the need to finance and promote tourism related projects and to support tour operators who are the backbone of the sector.
This will be a difficult year and for the area it has effectively ended, he noted.
“There are minimal hopes of a recovery. We hope that the virus does not come back and that there is movement in the months of August to November if all goes smoothly,” he said.
But he added that he was certain that in 2021 Cyprus will once more be a tourism leader.
And he expressed the hope that airlines such as Lufthansa, Jet2, easyjet, Rynair and Wizz air and tour operators such as TUI, Jet2holidays, Biblio Globus will wish to retain their competitive and commercial strength and within this framework, Cyprus will be among their priorities as a safe and attractive tourism destination.
