Cyprus wants more German tourists

The Council of Ministers has approved a series of actions to increase tourist arrivals from Germany, following the collapse of Germania, Cobalt and Air Berlin.

In statements after the Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Deputy Minister of Tourism Savvas Perdios said that the Council of Ministers approved promotional actions for this summer for the German market in an attempt to mitigate the loss of air seats.

Perdios said that it appears that this year the German market is dominated by a general uncertainty with fewer tourist arrivals, adding that one key reason for this is the bankruptcy of air companies Germania and earlier of Cobalt and Air Berlin.

He also said that the problems with Boeing 777 Max led to a decline of the number of available airplanes, but expressed conviction that the decisions taken by the Cabinet today will minimize the problem.

Asked how big is the decrease from the German market, he said it was around 50,000 seats since Germania`s bankruptcy, but he expressed optimism that with the promotional actions of the government about 30,000 seats will be covered.

The Deputy Minister of Tourism also noted that if the continued efforts for additional charter flights are successful then the number of lost seats will be fully covered, if not, there are new markets such as Ukraine, Lebanon, Israel and Jordan that will cover the difference.