The Russian tourists occupy the second position in the number of European tourist flow to Cyprus. Traditional European markets "turn away" from Cyprus. This assessment was voiced by the edition In Cyprus. In general, the number of arriving tourists decreased by 0.9% between January and June 2019. The main decline was shown by German market. 

Cyprus is traditionally one of the most return destinations. According to market participants, the share of return tourists, depending on the date of arrival, is from 20 to 30%, as in the previous year. According to Oksana Volkanova, the development director of ICS Travel Group tour operator, basically such an audience returns to 5* hotels, actively booking favorite accommodation facilities at the very beginning of the early booking.

Tour operators are registering this spring growth in demand for package tours to Cyprus. Uncertainty BREXIT and the bankruptcy of the Germania low-cost airline led in the early spring of 2019 to a reduction in the number of tourists coming to Cyprus from its main entry markets - the UK (-6.9%) and Germany (-37%).  

In the summer of 2019, Cyprus will maintain its leading position on the Russian outbound market. At the same time, as experts emphasize, among tourists the destination is more often associated with all-inclusive system, popular in Russia. Thus, according to the representatives of TEZ Tour operator, already this year the sales of hotels on «all inclusive» amounted to 25% of all sales in Cyprus.  

ANEX Tour this year decided to triple the regional charter program to Cyprus. In addition to Moscow in the summer season the tour operator for the first time will launch charter chains to Cyprus from St. Petersburg and two regions of southern Russia. 

Roman Sarbash, the head of the VIP tourism department of incoming company Elion Club - a subsidiary of Mouzenidis Group holding company - told about this. According to him, over the past year the holding notes an increase in demand for luxury accommodation in Greece at the level of 8-10%. According to the data of Elion Club, Greece and Cyprus for the last few years have shown an increase in demand for deluxe hotels and luxury villas. This trend is explained by several factors. 

TUI Russia tour operator has developed a flight program in Cyprus for the summer of 2019. The company will have its own charter program from Moscow to Paphos as a novelty of the season, and the total cost of tours in this area may be reduced by 10%. The charter flights of the tour operator TUI Russia on the wings of Ural Airlines from Moscow (Domodedovo) to Larnaca will be operated until April, 24, weekly on 3 and 6 days, and from April 26 to September 30 - already daily. In addition, flights to Larnaca are scheduled from St. Petersburg - from April 27 to September 30, weekly on Wednesdays and Saturdays, and from Krasnodar, from April 26 to September 30, weekly on Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. 

According to the information of tour operators, the majority of Cypriot hotels remain prices of the last year for the next season. Some experts say that, in comparison with 2018, tours may even be cheaper. Now the booking of summer Cyprus is already underway, but the main activity is expected in February.

Within programs of tour operators holiday in Cyprus will be available at attractive prices in the winter season. Now there is a high demand for last minute tours and for New Year's dates. According to experts, in the low season Cyprus has stable demand from families with children. A number of tour operator companies sell Cyprus all year round.

Following the results of 9 months of 2018, the Russian tourist flow to Cyprus decreased by almost 5%. According to the estimates of tour operators, due to attractive prices in the winter period, the direction will be able to show a positive dynamics for all the year. According to the Cyprus Tourism Organization (CAT), in January-September, 669 thousand citizens of the Russian Federation visited the country.

For the first 7 months 2018 the Russian tourist flow to Cyprus decreased by 5% in comparison with the same period of 2017, and July month showed a decline of 5.9% on a year-on-year basis. Tour operators hope that the direction can get back these losses during autumn season. According to the results of 7 months 2018, almost 439 thousand Russians have visited the country (a decline of 5.0%).

After not very successful results of the first quarter for Cyprus, there were doubts on the market about the success of the direction this summer. However, thanks to a balanced transportation and guarantees, tour operators this year are satisfied with the summer demand for Cyprus. It is noted in most companies that the June demand for summer Cyprus (as a minimum) is not behind the last year's indicators and some operators have growth.

“Ural Airlines will increase frequency of regular flights from Moscow to Larnaca from July 4. The daily flights will be added by one more flight three days a week - on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays”, - it was reported in a press release of the carrier. As Commercial Director of ICS Travel Group tour operator Dmitry Filatov explained, the airline returns the intensity of flights from the capital to the level of the last summer, when Ural Airlines carried out flights with frequency two flights per day.

“Cyprus from January to April was visited by 94.5 thousand Russians, as in the same period a year earlier”, - it follows from the published statistics of Cyprus Tourism Organization. Russia is on the second line in the list of incoming tourist flow to Cyprus. More travelers came only from Great Britain - 234.4 thousand people for the first four months of the year.

Tour operators are reckoning on the steady sale of Cyprus in the summer of 2018 due to the availability of guaranteed blocks in the hotels of the island. Also the operators note the increase of the depth of sales and the growing demand for villas and apartments. The leading tour operators say that according to the results of early booking program the demand for Cyprus has remained at the level of the previous year and is stable or growing.

“The tourist flow to Cyprus in January-March 2018 increased by 29.3% in comparison with the same period of the last year and amounted 369.4 thousand tourists”, - according to the Cyprus Mail newspaper. According to the publication, in March the island was visited by 192 thousand tourists, which is 36.4% more than in March 2017.

The year-round flight program of Biblio-Globus tour operator to Larnaca in the summer season 2018 will be carried out by Rossia airline from April to October every day with an increasing up to several flights a day from Moscow and St. Petersburg by Boeing-747 with business class. In the summer season up to 5 flights per week are planned from Yekaterinburg, twice a week from Samara, Kazan, Ufa, Novosibirsk, Nizhny Novgorod. The every 9-th and 11-th days – the flights from Omsk, Tyumen, Chelyabinsk and Perm are planned.

According to the results of the first quarter of 2018, the Russian tourist flow to Cyprus showed a decrease of 5% in comparison with the same period of the last year, but in April the traffic has increased by 14%. According to the official statistics of Cyprus, for the first three months of this year the country was visited by 29.3% more of tourists than during the same period of 2017.

The island in 2017 was visited by more than 824 thousand tourist from Russia, which is 5.5% more than in 2016. These are the data of the Cyprus Tourism Organization. In total, from January to December 2017 Cyprus was visited by 3 652 073 foreign tourists, which is 14.6% higher than in 2016.

The Cyprus air carrier Cobalt Air will expand its presence on the Russian market - starting March 26, it will start flights from Larnaka airport to Sheremetyevo. On February 19, the program started from two flights a week, with a gradual increase to six times a week by April 24. The cost of tickets starts from 6.8 thousand Rubles (98 Euros) one way.

The Cyprus carrier Cobalt Air enters the Russian market. From October 29 the airline will perform flights from Paphos to Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport twice a week. Sales of air tickets for the winter period are already open on the company's website. In November and December an average 179 Euros will be paid for traveling from Moscow to Paphos and back.