Cyprus has to claim share of Chinese tourism market, says Deputy Minister

The conditions are being created again for a rise in demand from the Chinese market for travels to Europe and Cyprus should claim its share, said Deputy Minister of Tourism Costas Koumis, after his meeting with a delegation from Shanghai, China, which is on a familiarisation trip to Cyprus led by the General Manager of Juneyao Airlines, Fumo Ji.

According to a Deputy Ministry announcement, this trip was planned as part of the efforts of the Deputy Ministry of Tourism to open up the Chinese market, as well as months-long contacts with Juneyao Airlines, through which travel agents, media representatives and representatives of Juneyao Airlines from Shanghai will be hosted in Cyprus until 11 January.

Welcoming the delegation members to Cyprus and thanking them for their presence on the island, the Deputy Minister of Tourism on 8 January .,expressed his confidence that the cooperation between them will be productive and beneficial for tourism in the country.

It is added that a constructive discussion took place during the meeting, with the guests sharing their first impressions of Cyprus, followed by an exchange of views on ways to upgrade, highlight and further promote the tourism product offered by the country.

Further, in a statement after the meeting, Koumis said that the Chinese market has been among the largest tourism export markets in the world for some years now, with total outbound tourism from the country having exceeded 120 million before the pandemic, of which 13 million ended up in Europe.

He added that the pandemic affected the Chinese market both as an outbound and as an inbound tourism market, with the market currently recovering without reaching so far pre-pandemic levels, but it is estimated that this is very likely to happen this year, with the share received by the European Continent rising year on year.

He added that Chinese tourists usually travel in the months of February, May and October which are national holiday periods.

"We believe that the conditions are being created again for a rise in demand from the Chinese market to Europe and as a country we have to claim our fair share, to be achieved by strengthening partnerships with specific tourism companies, but also by targeted - smart promotion, which we expect will cause a rise in demand for our country. This is our goal at this time, that is, to create those conditions for a rise in demand, and it is in this direction that we are working," he noted.

(Source: CNA)