Cyprus, a country dependent on tourism, is already beginning to feel the effects of the war. “People think twice”
Cyprus attracted 4 million tourists last year, but nowhere in Europe or even the Mediterranean basin is about to feel the impact of the conflict in the Middle East more than this country, a state dependent on tourism and also the closest EU member geographically to the region where the US-Israel-Iran war is taking place, The Guardian wrote.
The beach stand of Vassilis Georgiou, who has a water sports business, attracted more than 500,000 tourists last year for boat cruises and parasailing.
Until war broke out in the Middle East, he was expecting a prolific new year. “This is far from certain now,” Georgiou said. “Maybe it's early, but I've been here since 1992 and all of a sudden hoteliers are saying bookings are down. People are thinking twice,” he continued.
Last Sunday, a drone launched by the pro-Iranian militia Hezbollah struck the British base in Akrotiri. The British authorities have warned that the scenario of terrorist attacks cannot be ruled out.
“We're hearing cancellations, a certain numbness at this week's ITB,” Fotos Kikillos told Ayia Napa town hall, referring to Berlin's famous trade fair, considered by many to set the tone for the tourism industry.
On the other hand, Kikillos added: “As you can see, life here is very safe. People are having fun. There is no sense of fear. The last thing we want in Cyprus is to be dragged into this war.”
Those who remember the 1974 Turkish invasion and its traumatic aftermath, which left an ethnically fractured Cyprus, where Greek and Turkish Cypriots live on either side of a UN-policed buffer zone, laugh off concerns that the country is unsafe.
“Bah! When you saw the sky full of parachutes and bombs exploding, that's when you get scared,” said a vendor who identified himself as Evros. “This, today, is a picnic.”
Photo: F8grapher | Dreamstime.com
