The two countries’ deputy ministers of tourism, Greece’s Sophia Zacharaki and Cyprus’ Savvas Perdios (centre)Greece and Cyprus are strengthening their cooperation over tourism, with particular emphasis on the promotion of cruises, tourism officials said on Wednesday.
The two countries’ deputy ministers of tourism, Greece’s Sophia Zacharaki and Cyprus’ Savvas Perdios on Wednesday boarded the Royal Caribbean international liner Jewel of the Seas, which will be departing from the Limassol port on July 10 and sail the Greek and Cypriot coastlines.
Perdios said that the launch of Royal Caribbean cruises in Cyprus will further increase the cooperation between the two countries.
“Cruise tourism concerns both Cyprus and Greece, since any ship that leaves Greece will definitely sail along the Cypriot coastlines and vice versa.”
The 2021 summer itineraries from Cyprus opened for bookings on April 7. Sailing with vaccinated crew, the cruises will be available to adult guests who are fully vaccinated against Covid-19 and those under the age of 18 with negative test results.
Spanning 13 decks, the ship comes complete with a rock-climbing wall, casino, sports court, nine-hole miniature golf course, an outdoor movie screen and more.
“The cooperation is not only on paper, we have worked on it for many years in order to promote joint cruise journeys,” Zacharaki added.
She added that both her and Perdios presented the plan to the World Tourism Organisation (WTO) receiving widespread praise.
The visit to the cruise ship was followed by a visit to the village of Laneia, at the foothills of Mount Troodos, where Perdios told reporters about his intention to show his Greek counterpart “the authentic experiences that can be enjoyed on our island, an idea that we very much want to promote abroad”.