Cyprus was just recovering from the crisis of the pandemic, and the tourists started to return, when Russia invaded Ukraine.
— This year we had expected 800,000 Russian tourists, says Haris Loizides, head of the Cyprus Hotel Association
In 2019, the year before the pandemic, tourism in Cyprus brought in almost the equivalent of SEK 28 billion to the country. Then 3.9 million tourists came to Cyprus and of these almost 800,000 were Russians. Only the British were more.
So far this year, only 17,000 have made it to Cyprus, most of them Russians who live in the country, and according to calculations, the loss is expected to be worth around six billion kroner.
The war has also led to increased costs for hotels in the form of higher energy prices, and Loizides is calling on the EU to intervene.
— The EU must remedy the situation and help companies, especially at a time when inflation is rampant, he says.