News > Tourists from the UK have dropped and predicted to drop more in 2009

Tourists from the UK have dropped and predicted to drop more in 2009

8/21/2008

TOURIST ARRIVALS from the UK have always amounted to over half of the total visitors to the island and this market has for a long time been the mainstay of the Cyprus Tourist industry. The British market may have reached saturation point now and has dipped considerably over the last five years but it still managed to account for 55% of tourists last year. To a degree it has held it's own this year because many people will have booked their holidays before global prices began to spiral out of control.

But the future for next year looks bleak as the credit crunch hits the UK with as much as £250 being added to the price of some package holidays. The British market, which has seen a downturn of 3.7% this year, is unlikely to recover for next year as both flights and hotel prices increase. Only Ayia Napa seems to have escaped the downturn with Limassol, Larnaca and Paphos down and Polis occupancy numbers falling to a third of the average - its worst year in living memory.
The entry of Cyprus into the eurozone has done little to lure British holidaymakers as the exchange rate between the Euro and sterling is very unfavourable for UK holidaymakers. There are some in the industry who believe that Cyprus should wean itself off the UK market and look more to other areas such as Russia and Scandinavia. The roadworks outside several Paphos hotels have not improved matters with hoteliers complaining that it has lost them business. They say that works in the harbour areas may have cost them up to 10% of arrivals.
Paphos Mayor, Savvas Vergas, has said that the work is on target and the seafront will open again on September 15.