Cyprus Hotel Industry rescue plan

Topic

Comprehensive tourism strategies development or update

Best Practice

Since arrivals on the island have diminished due to lockdowns from COVID-19, the Cyprus Deputy Ministry issued a rescue plan for the Hotel industry. The plan offered subsidized accommodation for Cypriots at any hotel joint the program from September 2020. The sealing price for the accommodation per night per person was 40 euros with a minimum stay of two nights. The program for 2020 lasted until November and was re-opened in 2021 in June until November with bigger participation from hotels as well as the public. In 2022 the program was for months from May until July. During the winter months, the program from 2020 until 2022 subsidized hotels and accommodation for the mountain regions from December until March. Concerning new markets Cyprus has shifted more toward the EU market. Arrivals in 2023 have almost reached pre-pandemic. Arrivals have reached in 2023 approximately 3.845.000 in relation to 3.976.000 in 2019. The numbers although very close are without the Russian and Ukrainian markets of 780 thousand visitors from Russia (716,053) and Ukraine (70,181) that Cyprus could have received which have been substituted from visitors from the EU with the biggest difference from Polland and Israel.

Organization

Deputy Ministry of Tourism

The Deputy Ministry of Tourism is responsible for the development and implementation of the National Tourism Strategy of Cyprus. It ensures the implementation of tourism legislation, maintains lists of licensed tourism businesses, and supervises the tourism sector, in order to maintain high standards of service.

Website

Impact

It promotes tourism awareness, education and training, prepares studies and analyses tourism-related data, aiming at the continuous improvement and modernization of the services provided.

Sustainability

The goal of the Deputy Ministry of Tourism is to further develop, enrich and upgrade the tourism product of Cyprus, as well as highlight the variety of local experiences and the balanced distribution of tourism benefits in all areas of the island, always with the cooperation of all involved bodies and stakeholders. At the same time, it seeks to simplify procedures and create a friendly and flexible regulatory framework, for the facilitation of all stakeholders.