Cyprus Travel Update – Tue 18 May 2021

Cyprus welcomed 38,000 tourists in April, mostly Russians

Cyprus received only 38,226 tourists in April 2021 from zero arrivals the same month last year due to the first coronavirus lockdown, the Statistical Service announced.

There was an entry ban on visitors to the Republic during a strict national lockdown that lasted from March to June 2020.

The upturn in arrivals this April was mainly down to Russian visitors.

Arrivals from Russia were the main source of tourism in April 2021, with a share of 41.7% (15,935), followed by Greece with 12.8% (4,900) and Israel with 12.6% (4,824).

Compared to pre-COVID times, there was an 88.4% decline in arrivals than April 2019 – a record year for Cyprus tourism – with 329,3087 recorded.

For the first four months to April 2021, arrivals of tourists reached 55,973 compared to 246,556 in the same period of 2020, recording a decrease of 77.3%.

Compared to 2019 figures (686,783 arrivals), the decline was a much steeper 91.8% for January – April.

Cyprus went from record tourist arrivals to plunge 84 per cent in 2020, with the island suffering a tourism nightmare as the pandemic decimated holiday travel.

Tourist arrivals plunged by 84.1% in 2020 to mark Cyprus’ worst tourist seasons due to Covid-19.

Trips abroad

In total, 15,338 residents of Cyprus returned from a trip abroad in April, compared to 4,000 in the same month last year, recording an increase of 283.5%.

Compared to a travel-normal April 2019, there was an 86.9% decrease this year.

The main countries from which Cyprus residents returned were Greece with a 32.3% share and Russia with 10.4%.

Cyprus vaccinates 44%, rollout reaches teenagers

The national vaccination plan has reached people aged 18-24, with already 44% of the adult population receiving at least one jab of a COVID-19 vaccine.

Health Minister Constantinos Ioannou will hold a news conference on Tuesday to reveal how the vaccination rollout will continue.

It has gone through all the age groups since starting in December with people in their 90s, health workers and residents at nursing homes.

Cyprus’ online vaccination platform opened for 18 to 21-year-olds on Monday at 7.30 am. Within the first two hours, 8,855 appointments were made from the 15,920 made available until Tuesday.

The Health Ministry appears content with the pace of the vaccination rollout, both at a geographical and an age level.

It said the number of COVID-19 cases had declined while the hospital indicators have improved.

“Especially at older ages where vaccination coverage exceeds 80%, the number of cases remains stable at very low levels since March, while hospitalizations at these ages have declined sharply.

“At the same time, there is a gradual decrease in the number of cases and hospitalizations in the ages of 50-69, who have received at least the first dose of the vaccine.”

A gradual decrease or even stabilization in positive cases is observed in the other age groups as their vaccination progresses.

“This has the effect of gradually reducing the number of people who are seriously ill and consequently hospital admissions, significantly relieving the health system,” said the ministry.

A total of 324,573 people (43.9%) received a vaccine jab until May 15, while 108,789 people (14.7%) have been fully vaccinated.

From December 27, 2020, until May 15, 433,362 vaccinations were carried out, which amounts to 49.3 doses per 100 inhabitants.

Aided by a two-week lockdown, authorities speeded up the country’s vaccination rollout, resulting in daily cases dropping from a record 941 in April to 165 on Sunday.

Hospitalisations dropped from over 300 to 157 on Sunday, 50 of which were in serious condition.

Geographically, vaccination coverage percentage has increased in each district, with Paphos ranking first at 46.6%.

Nicosia follows with 43.7%, Larnaca on 42.3%, Limassol with 41.7% and Famagusta with 40% (data until May 14).

The Health Ministry aims to cover 65% of the population with at least the first dose of a vaccine before July.

The online platform will open Wednesday for people aged 61 to 65 and again on Friday for those aged between 46 and 49.

Amber is no go, says UK minister Hancock

Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Matthew Hancock said on Monday that UK residents “should certainly not” travel to destinations in the Amber list of the country’s classification system for travel — that includes Cyprus.

Hancock told Times Radio that UK travelers should not go to these destinations unless absolutely necessary.

 “People should not travel to amber or red list countries unless it’s absolutely necessary, and certainly not for holiday purposes.”

 He added that countries in the red list were only to be visited “unless you have an absolutely compelling reason.”

UK residents were again allowed to travel as of Monday, but those going to Amber-list countries must go into quarantine for 10 days and have two negative Covid tests – one on day two and the other on day eight of quarantine.
They will also be required to complete a passenger locator form and test negative for Covid before arriving back into the UK.

Cyprus is still a major destination for many tour companies and airlines — Jet2, for example, has a substantial offer of holidays in Cyprus available online. TUI has holidays starting in June available for booking to a number of Cyprus destinations.

Yet analysts warn that, with the Amber listing, Cyprus is not likely to see a flood of UK tourist arrivals.

“International arrivals from the UK to Cyprus dropped by 82.6 per cent in 2020 according to GlobalData,” writes Johanna Bonhill-Smith, associate research analyst at GlobalData in London. “And its current status on the UK’s traffic light system as ‘amber’ means that home quarantine and multiple PCR tests are needed and this will likely affect its appeal for UK tourists in the short-term.  Cost and accessibility are two main factors that influence the choice of the UK traveler. Both of these are impacted by the traffic light travel system and would-be travelers may seek out green list countries.”

Travel industry leaders have complained bitterly about the current ‘traffic-light’ listing.

Official advice on travel to amber list countries is “not clear”, the boss of British Airways has claimed.

Chief executive Sean Doyle said there are “many reasons why people need to travel”.

“The framework is there to deal with risk and I think if people comply with the framework, that’s ultimately achieving what it was designed to achieve.

“I think there are many reasons why people need to travel, and the advice is not clear in that regard,” he insisted.

UKinbound CEO Joss Croft commented: “Confirmation that non-essential international travel will reopen on 17th May is a positive step forward and will be celebrated across the sector, but our industry cannot afford another false dawn and a stop-start recovery. The sparsity of countries on the green list and notable absence of the US and much of Europe, along with the cost of testing and the continuation of quarantine measures, present further devastating barriers to business for the inbound tourism industry, which sustains over 500,000 jobs and would normally generate £28.4 billion annually for the UK economy.

This is not job done, the important task of removing restrictions at our borders is not complete and it will therefore be many more months until recovery can really begin.  We fully endorse a risk-based approach to reopening, but now more than ever we need Government to provide targeted recovery support for inbound tourism businesses to ensure the industry can play its crucial role in the UK’s economic revival.”

Iceland moves to Green, Slovakia to Red in country categorisations

Cyprus upgraded Iceland to the Green category and moved Slovakia down to Red in its new categorisations for arrivals based on countries’ epidemiological situation, effective from May 20.

The Green category includes, apart from Iceland, six non-European countries, namely Israel, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Saudi Arabia and South Korea. Passengers arriving from these countries do not need to present a negative PCR test upon arrival or self-isolate.

Portugal, Ireland, Finland, Malta, Iceland, Norway, China (including Hong Kong and Macau), the UK and Thailand are in the Orange category.

Passengers from Orange category countries must take a PCR test within 72 hours prior to their departure with a negative result. Cypriot citizens, their spouses and children, people residing permanently in the Republic and people allowed to enter the country based on the Vienna Convention, and people in countries where PCR tests are not provided, may get tested upon arrival at the Larnaca and Paphos airports. They need to self-isolate until the PCR results are ready. The test cost is covered by passengers.

In the Red category are Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Croatia, Luxembourg, Romania, Spain, Italy, Greece, Netherlands, Hungary, Poland, Denmark, Slovakia, Slovenia, Czechia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Sweden, Germany, Andorra, Monaco, Vatican City, San Marino, Switzerland, Lichtenstein, Rwanda, Russian, UAE, Ukraine, Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt, Belarus, Qatar, Serbia, US, Armenia, Georgia and Bahrain.

Passengers from Red category countries are required to undergo a PCR test within 72 hours prior to departure and undergo another PCR test upon arrival in the Republic of Cyprus. They must remain in self isolation until the result is issued. The cost of the test is covered by the passengers. Cypriot citizens, their spouses and children, people residing permanently in the Republic, and people allowed to enter the country based on the Vienna Convention may get tested upon arrival at the Larnaca and Paphos airports. They need to self-isolate until the PCR results are ready. The test cost is covered by passengers.

In such cases, they need to self-isolate for 72 hours after their arrival and get another PCR test after this period expires. If their test result is negative they must send tehri results to monada@mphs.moh.gov.cy to be discharged from self-isolation.

Passengers from countries not mentioned above, must get special permission to arrive in Cyprus.

All passengers need to file an application to CyprusFlightPass before their flight to Cyprus. The document could be used as a substitute to the national SafePass allowing tourists to visit indoor crowded venues such as shopping malls, restaurants and cafes among others.

Vaccinated passengers are excluded from the mandatory coronavirus testing to visit Cyprus.


Sources
1. Financial Mirror

2. Financial Mirror

3. Cyprus Mail

4. Cyprus Mail