The new Paphos International Airport in Cyprus, designed by Pascall & Watson Architects with Canadian designer Stantec, has been completed for Hermes Airports.

The 18,500sq m passenger terminal will serve 2.7 million passengers a year and includes retail and relaxation areas, VIP accommodation and parking facilities.

The project is part of a 25 year Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) contract with French firm Bouygues Batiment International as the design and build contractor, to upgrade air travel in Cyprus.

A second airport at Lanarca, which will handle 7.5 million passengers, will open in November 2009.

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Fewer than half of Cyprus's tourists stay in hotels, according to data released by the Statistical Service, while around one-sixth stay with relatives and friends.
Between January and August 2008, on average 48.6% of tourists stayed in 1- to 5-star hotels, while 17.9% stayed in "hotel apartments or tourist villages".
According to the data, 5.6% stayed in "owned residence" and 11.2% stayed in "other", unnamed accommodation.

Paphos regions hosts over one-third.

The Paphos region - Paphos and Polis - was host to 35.6% of tourists in the first eight months of 2008, which implies that this region alone attracts 860,000 tourists each year.
Paralimni and Ayia Napa in the east together hosted 26.6% of tourists in January-August. Limassol attracted 14.5% of visitors, Larnaca 10.2% and the inland capital, Nicosia, only 7.7%.
Cyprus's potential for tourism in the picturesque Troodos mountains evidently remains underdeveloped, with the "other" category attracting only 5.3% of visitors.

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The population of the Republic of Cyprus is around 789.300 according to a new report out today.

At the end of 2007, the population had recorded an increase of 1,4% on the previous year.

According to the report by Cyprus Statistical Service (CyStat), the population in the district of Nicosia was 310.900 at the end of 2007, in Famagusta 43.700, in Larnaca 131.900, in Limassol 226.700 and in Paphos 76.100.

69.9% of the population resided in the urban areas of Cyprus, while 30.1% resided in rural areas.

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23 August 2007

Last minute ticket sales are going well for next weekend's ninth Paphos Aphrodite Festival, featuring Giuseppe Verdi's third operatic success, Il Trovatore, at the medieval Paphos castle with the organisers saying that less tickets remain unsold compared to the same time last year.

Stella Siepi, the General Coordinator of the publicly-owned venture that includes local municipalities, the Paphos Chamber of Commerce and the hoteliers association as its main shareholders, told the Financial Mirror that all 7,500 tickets are expected to be sold this year, compared to some 1,000 that remained unsold last year.

"The good seats are going fast and with foreign sales accounting for about 45% of all, there are not many left," she said, adding that the biggest grouping of ticket holders are traditionally from Nicosia.

"As soon as they see the stage going up, people will come forward for last-minute sales, for which we have a number of tickets in reserve."

But Siepi does not want to sit on her laurels. Looking ahead and keeping a balance between good quality productions and sound finances is what is going to keep the Paphos opera afloat and on the international scene.

This year's production staged by the Abai State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre of Kazakhstan will cost the organisers about CYP 235,000 (EUR 402,000), significantly less than last year's production of Verdi's "Un Ballo in Maschera" by the famous State Academic Mariinsky Theatre of Russia.

However, the finances seem to be better as income from sponsors and ticket sales will help keep a healthy balance sheet, while a long-term debt owed to the Paphos Municipality for the purchase of the 2,500-capacity seating construction is nearing its end.

15 June 2007

'Uisge Beatha', the water of life, is the first of its kind malt whisky concept that has opened inside the partly refurbished Larnaca airport departure lounge with the aim of attracting the whisky connoisseurs and well-to-do travellers on their way to short or long journeys.

This pilot project is the brainchild of the marketing team of the airport's new management, CTC ARI Airports, and plans are underway to imitate the same shop-in-shop, located within the upgraded duty free store in other countries where the Hermes Airports venture partner Aer Rianta International has a presence.

Uisge Beatha is manned by a well-trained 'shopping advisor' who will guide the potential buyer through the initial selection of 61 Scottish single malts, that is expected to see a number of Irish malt whiskeys added very soon.

Tasting also takes place on the spot depending on the customer's preference or inquiries. Some of the 'most interested' are some Scandinavians and Russians who are prepared to spend big amounts for a quality whisky, while others are still rushing through trying to get the odd Scotch blend for the father-in-law and the cologne for the mother-in-law, while trying to catch the flight in time.

For the unknowing visitor, the best bargains are the Glenfiddichs for about a tenner while the most expensive in the store is a 30-year-old 'Glen' going for CYP 110 (EUR 187). This shop is expected to engulf whiskies and blends from other continents as well, such as the U.S., and is regarded as having the best whisky collection at any airport.

All four major Scottish malt producing areas are represented at Uisge Beatha - Highlands, Speyside, Islay and Lowlands and you can ask the shop keeper anything you want. If he doesn't know it (which he probably does), then he has a vast supply of books and other resources.

But it is not just quality brands and their nice display that will attract buyers to the shop. The company's management has secured competitive prices rating Larnaca Airport as one of the "most affordable" for whisky purchases.

"On some brands we have at least a pound's difference from outside market prices, but in the case of others we have resorted to special deals by incorporating taxes or other costs in order to make our shop attractive for new customers," explained Gerry Crawford, General Manager, CTC-ARI Airports that operates the Cyprus Airports Duty Free, as well as the smaller Xpress shops dotted around the airport terminal building.

"My objective is to completely demystify the sector for our consumers," said Crawford, adding that, "we will be initially specialising in distillery bottled editions as I think it is a lot more interesting and collectible for the consumer."

10 June

The cleanest beaches in Europe are in Cyprus and Greece, according to a report released May 31 by the European Union. Cyprus had a score of 99 percent compliance with the EU's strictest standards, and Greece scored 96 percent. Spain's beaches scored 92.7 percent. At the bottom of the list was Luxembourg, whose beaches scored only 35 percent. The report on the 2006 season evaluated almost 22,000 beaches.

Fiji: The state of emergency imposed by Commodore Frank Bainimarama after a bloodless military coup in December was lifted Thursday. The regulations were necessary to ensure the safety of civilians and property, Bainimarama said. Anyone threatening public order will still face police action. Restrictions on the media and public gatherings will remain in place. Elections for a new representative government will not be held until 2010.

Spain: The Basque separatist group Eta ended its "permanent cease-fire" Wednesday, claiming that the minimum conditions for continuing negotiations with the government did not exist. The government halted peace talks in December after an Eta bombing at the Madrid airport killed two, an incident Eta claimed did not mean the cease-fire was over. Officials are concerned that the move by Eta may mean another attack is imminent, and it is likely that the government will take a hard line against the group after a year of pursuing a political settlement.

The news that Cyprus is now just a handful of euros away from Vienna is excellent news for the island's beleaguered tourist industry.

SkyEurope Airlines, a central European budget carrier, will be flying to the Austrian capital for just 65 euros return, belatedly putting the island on the map of no-frills air travel. In the coming weeks, we can also look forward to the start of services operated by UK-based low-cost airlines Monarch and Excel.

Their services cannot come a moment too soon, both for Cypriot consumers and for the island's key tourism sector. The island had never made it onto the low-cost circuit - its five-hour flight time too long for the UK pioneers of cheap air travel; but at least with the arrival of Helios Airways, air fares to the island were brought down through healthy competition.

The demise of Helios in the wake of the 2004 tragedy returned to the established 'national carriers' their traditional dominance, with rising prices to boot, and falling numbers of visitors to the island. Indeed, this paper has received many letters from regular visitors finding it increasingly hard to find affordable fares and forced to look elsewhere for their holidays. We hope now that this trend will be reversed.

Budget airlines are an inescapable part of the European tourism scene. And neither are they the preserve of low-class yob tourism. On the contrary, they reflect the increasing desire of affluent European consumers to have cheap, easy options at their fingertips. They allow spontaneity, spur of the moment visits. And the very people likely to fly over to Paphos for a long weekend are those people with higher disposable income, making independent travel plans, and contributing far more to the local economy than the all-inclusive package customer.