Deputy Tourism Minister sets sights on Scandinavia

Expectations for further growth in tourist arrivals from Scandinavian countries are fueling travel and contacts made by Deputy Tourism Minister Costas Koumis in Stockholm and Helsinki.

The news has been documented in a related announcement from the Ministry of Tourism and was confirmed in an interview with Phileleftheros upon the Deputy Minister’s return to Cyprus. Koumis does not rule out the possibility that Swedish tourists may reach a record number this year, similar to the numbers recorded in 2018.

“We came here with the aim and goal of achieving an increase in the available seats in our country for the next year. I would say that we are very satisfied with the results of our contacts, and we are very optimistic that our goal will be achieved,” the press release stated. These efforts focused on four of the five northern countries that are connected to our country: Sweden, Norway, Finland, and Denmark, aiming to add flights to cities that have not had air connections until now.

Interview with Adamos Adamou

Are you satisfied with the contacts you had in Sweden and Finland? What messages did these markets send about the rest of the year and 2024?

We are extremely satisfied. The purpose of our visit was to strengthen cooperation with our partners and, of course, to increase the available seats in our country. We are pleased to know that Finnair has already decided to increase its flights from three to four, and it is also significant that they have decided to maintain one of their three flights during the winter season.

This is a very positive development for our country’s tourism, as we are interested in strengthening the winter season as well. I should remind you that some of our partners from the British market had already decided to increase arrivals for the period from November 2023 to February 2024 a few months ago.

In general, we consider the Nordic markets to be very important, and we believe that with steady and proper steps, we will see growth in both the summer and winter seasons.

Do you consider the air connectivity between these two markets and Scandinavia as sufficient, or do you see room for improvement? Were any contacts made in this direction?

Contacts and discussions have certainly taken place. In my opinion, the existing air connectivity is quite good, but it could certainly be improved further.

We already have positive developments from the Finnish market, and we hope for a reasonable increase in available airline seats from there. We discussed scenarios for adding flights from cities that we have not had air connections to until now.

I would like to mention that this year our country is connected to Sweden with flights from seven different cities: Gothenburg, Malmo, Norrkoping, Örebro, Umeå, Kiruna, and of course, Stockholm. We are optimistic that in a few weeks, we will achieve a reasonable increase in available airline seats.

What do you mean by a “reasonable increase”?

When you aim for something, especially when it doesn’t depend solely on you, it should fall within a framework of a specific reason. We know that it is not easy for any airline, especially in the post-COVID era, with the challenges that many of them are facing, to change their plans significantly.

At the same time, we consider it extremely important that these plans lead to success. Success means that visitors leave our country satisfied, our partners, such as airlines, achieve high load factors, and we move forward together, investing not only in increasing numbers, which we have already achieved a significant leap this year but also in quality, while avoiding over-tourism, which is already occurring in many parts of the world.

Additionally, we cannot ignore the fact that both Sweden and Finland are not experiencing the best economic times, and such a fact should always be taken into consideration.

I should note that Sweden is currently experiencing an increase of 31.2% compared to last year (measured until July), and we have already exceeded 84,000 arrivals. It is very likely that we will approach the record of 2018 when we had 153,000 arrivals.

However, the most important thing for Sweden is that we have significant performances during the winter season, which we hope will become more established and increase over time.

The Finnish market is also showing an increase of about 15%, with more than 18,000 arrivals. However, we are still far behind the performance of the past, considering that in 1990, for example, we had reached 119,000 arrivals. What is undoubtedly important is that the Finnish market, a market that can bring us winter visits, is returning.

How do you estimate the performance of these markets in terms of tourist arrivals this year?

Sweden is currently experiencing an increase of 31.2% compared to last year (measured until July), and we have already exceeded 84,000 arrivals. It is very likely that we will approach the record of 2018 when we had 153,000 arrivals.

The most important thing for Sweden, however, is that we have significant performances during the winter, which we hope will become more established and increase over time.

The Finnish market is also showing an increase of about 15%, with more than 18,000 arrivals. However, we are still far behind the performance of the past, considering that in 1990, for example, we had reached 119,000 arrivals. What is undoubtedly important is that the Finnish market, a market that can bring us winter visits, is returning.

Fourth market in July

The Deputy Minister’s estimations that arrivals from Sweden may approach the record year of 2018 for Swedish visits this year are confirmed by the tourism flow from the country so far.

According to the Statistical Service, arrivals from Sweden in July, the last month for which data is available, reached 22,994 and accounted for 4.4% of the total arrivals, highlighting Sweden as the fourth major source of tourists, i.e., the fourth most significant market for tourism in that particular month.

Total arrivals from Sweden for the first seven months of the year amount to 84,052, ranking the market sixth in line for Cypriot tourism after the British, Israeli, Polish, Greek, and German markets.

Compared to the same seven-month period last year, arrivals from Sweden have seen a significant increase of 32.5%. They show a slight increase compared to the same period in 2019, but, on the contrary, they have decreased by 5% compared to the record year of 2018 for the Swedes, when total arrivals for the year amounted to 153,769 and for the first seven months of 2018 to 89,041.