Cyprus will spend 4, 000 000 $ to attract Russian tourists to the country, said Fotis Fotiu, Cyprus Tourism Organization, at the press conference which was held in Moscow on March 21st. According to him the budget will be allocated to image advertising, PR-promotion and development of co-operation with Russian tour operators. Dimitris Dimitriu, Director of Cyprus Tourism Office in Moscow, pointed out at the press conference that advertising campaigns will be carried out in five Russian cities – Moscow, St. Petersburg, Samara, Ekaterinburg and Krasnodar.
Furthermore, in 2006 Cyprus Tourism Organization decided to use different creative approaches for different countries and to prepare a unique campaign for promotion in Russia. Saatchi & Saatchi will be responsible for Cyprus promotion to Russian tourists.
Besides, at the press conference Fotis Fotiu mentioned the simplification of visa issuing procedure for tourists from Russian regions having pointed out the details would be announced in 2-3 weeks.
However, Russian tour operators who visited the exhibition in Berlin say that the outbreak of bird flu in Turkey frightened European tourists and at the moment they are looking for alternative destinations. Representatives of Cyprus Tourism Organization confirmed that a number of bookings in Cyprus hotels by German and English companies in January and February 2006 increased at 22% comparing to the same period last year. For example, Tatiana Chuvilkina, PR Director Deputy of Natalie Tours, believes that 50% of English and German tourists who excluded Turkey from their trip schedule might choose Cyprus: ‘such a considerable growth in tourist flow from Europe might lead to the shortage of hotels for Russian tour operating companies’.
Meanwhile, Alexander Tugolukov, Director of Biblio-Globus Travel Company, doubts the tendency: ‘it is impossible to make exact conclusions due to the information from hoteliers – in some resorts a considerable increase in demand is evident while others are experiencing drop in demand’.
