President presents government’s vision for promoting Cyprus as all year tourist destination

President Nikos Christodoulides spoke at the Hermes Airports conference ‘Beyond Sun and Sea’, where he outlined the government’s vision for promoting Cyprus as all year tourist destination.

Key initiatives presented during the conference included the development of new tourism products focused on gastronomy, culture, nature, and authentic experiences to provide Cyprus with a competitive edge. The rebranding of Cyprus in the global tourism market, improvement of infrastructure, and workforce development were also underlined. The conference concluded with closing remarks on the proposals discussed.

During the conference, he commented on his recent trip to Cairo for a trilateral summit between Cyprus, Greece, and Egypt. He said that the government is looking to promote Cyprus as a tourism destination to neighbouring countries.

“We are not just sun and sea. In Cyprus you can be at the beach and in an hour be in the in the mountains,” Christodoulides said, commenting on the unique offerings of the island’s tourism product.

He added that the government had also made significant strides with promoting Cyprus to Israeli tourists and that they had mitigated a problem, which existed with Israelis travelling to the north.

Commenting further on the government strategy to promote Cyprus year round, he said: “We need to evolve our tourism product.” The president added that so far Cyprus makes around €3 million in tourism revenue per year, and that the sector needs to expand further through further development of the premium tourism market.

According to Christodoulides, this should not be done though by sacrificing the traditional tourism streams. Part of the plan to promote Cyprus further includes the marina expansions, and the authentic experiences offered, the president said.

Also, the president commented that a key development will be for Cyprus to join the Schengen area for visa-free travel, which was the topic looked at by the ad how ministerial task force looking into the country’s prospects of joining.

He said that Cyprus will be technically ready in 2025.