Low number of arrivals dashes hopes for tourism in Cyprus

NICOSIA, July 20 (Xinhua) -- Fresh figures released by a Cypriot government official on Monday put a damper on hopes that the country's tourism industry would swiftly recover from the coronavirus pandemic.

Between June 9 (the relaxation of travel restrictions) and July 15, only 69,000 people applied for a permit to fly, and 4,000 of them were turned down, mostly because they came from countries from where incoming flights are still not allowed, Deputy Minister for Research, Innovation and Digital Policy Kyriakos Kokkinos, in charge of the Cyprus Flight Pass platform, said on Monday.