NICOSIA – Despite the lingering COVID-19 pandemic and losing flights from Russia over European Union sanctions for the invasion of Ukraine, tourism on Cyprus had hit 75 percent of the big year of 2019.

Deputy Minister of Tourism Savvas Perdios said the gap is being made up by more arrivals from other markets including Germany, Switzerland, France and Greece, the island’s popularity enduring.

He said that given the challenges of the past years, namely the pandemic and the war in Ukraine that, “We haven’t done so bad after all,” Kathimerini Cyprus said of the country’s biggest revenue engine.

He said that the previous three years efforts after the pandemic struck to keep people interested has paid off as international air traffic has boomed so much there are thousands of cancellations and delays, making travel a nightmare.

He said that many more Germans, Greeks, French, Poles, Swiss, Scandinavians, Hungarians, Israelis and others are now visiting the island because of stepped-up efforts and insuring connections would work.

“We see that July was a very good month and so is August and we expect the same occupancies for September too,” he said, the summer season being extended with people eager to travel again even during the pandemic.

He said that 15 promotions are in place to keep people coming longer, noting not only the weather, food, beaches and rural areas but wineries, trails, the Troodos geopark and Christmas villages as off-season lures.