Filenews 17 September 2020
The request of tour operators from Great Britain to carry out the test for covid-19, 96 hours before their arrival in Cyprus, instead of 72 hours previously, for English tourists, was forwarded to the Ministry of Health, according to the president of the local PASYXE Thanos Michaelides, of the Hoteliers Association, .
In statements to the CYPE, Mr Michaelides expressed the hope that the Ministry of Health would consider the request positively. As the president of the Paphos Hoteliers Association said, a small movement has started from England, but there is a problem, because the English are unable to carry out the test and have the results in 72 hours, as is now the regulation, so that they can travel to Cyprus.
There is, he continued, increased demand in England for the Covid-19 test, once schools have opened, people have returned to work, so, he said, the English are unable to get the test result within 72 hours, resulting in several British tourists having missed flights to Paphos and Cyprus in general.
As he said, this is a deterrent to move the English market to a better degree which would certainly be very assistive at this stage of the season because it is the only market that could move.
Mr. Michaelides also raised the issue of time, since he noted the months of September and October are the last months of the summer season, so the anxiety is not to lose these two months because the damage will increase.
It is, he said, "a period when there is even some interest from the English market and it would be a shame to lose it", while expressing the hope that if a positive decision is taken it will be soon so that the English market can be exploited, this time.
This, he noted, will help a lot the people who want to come to Cyprus, since Cyprus has a great comparative advantage over other Mediterranean weather destinations for September and October.
In relation to the announcement of the launch of Lufthansa flights from Germany in 2021 to Paphos airport, Mr Michaelides described the development as positive, but added that it was somewhat early to draw safe conclusions.
With regard to finally the fullness of the hotels in Paphos for September, Mr Michaelides said that these are too low at 20%.
Eyenews/AFP