Arrivals from Russia-the island’s second largest market after the UK- are expected to be over 400,000 in 2012 ,  with new flights to Cyprus launched from seven more airports in the Russian Federation.

After a recent visit to Russia, Cyprus Tourism Organisation (CTO) chief Alecos  Oroundiotis  said that flights to Cyprus will be operated from 16 towns in Russia –Moscow ,  St Petersburg,  Yekaterinburg,  Ufa,  Rostov,  Novosibirsk, Kazan,  Krasnoyarsk, Samara, Nizhny, Novgorod, Omsk, Chelyabinsk, Tyumen, Kemerovo, Arkhangelsk and Perm.

Oroundiotis stressed that intense efforts were required to fill these new flights and the CTO hat to advertise Cyprus in the cities.

Oroundiotis and the CTO delegation accompanying him had meetings with key operators from Moscow and St Petersburg.

“Results from these meetings were very encouraging, with Cyprus continuing to be an attractive tourism destination for the Russian market, which is one of the island’s priority markets,” Oroundiotis told reporters in Nicosia.

“From information and indications from Russia tour operators, it seems that we will see a bigger increase in arrivals from Russia in 2012 and we hope to exceed 400,000 tourists,” he added.

The Russian market, he said, has in the last few years recorded a huge increase in arrivals for Cyprus and there are all the prospects for achieving much larger numbers this year.

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Limassol is set to acquire a new medical centre which aims to set standards  in the provision of oncology services on the island.

Plans for the centre will be unveiled at a press conference to be held at the Cyprus University of Technology (CUT).

Catering to patients from Cyprus and aboard, the large scale  project is a multi-million euro venture made possible by investment from local and foreign sources. Construction will begin as soon the planning permits have been approved and its site has already been confirmed in a privately owned piece of land in centrally-located Asgata in Limassol district which is easily accessible from major urban centres.

Director of Medical Services will be Limassol-born Professor Nikos Zamboglou, currently Head of the Department of Radiation oncology at the Offenbach Hospital, who will also lead the press conference. Other speakers today include Professor Georgios Sakas who is Head of the Medical Imaging Department at the Faunhofer  Research Institute  in Darmstadt in Germany Professor Andreas Anayiotos from the Open University and the CUT and Chris Geargiades on behalf of   the companies participating in the project.

The Rector of CUT, Elpida Keravnou-Papailiou will also address the press conference.

The plans call for the project to be completed over three phases.

Phase A will include the main building and rehabilitation lodgings.

Phase B will cover construction of a palliative care centre, a biomedical research centre, and doctors’ and staff residences. Phase C will include a surgical oncology unit and prayer rooms.

It is estimated that the centre will employ around 450 people, including prominent doctors with international experience.

It will provide the very latest in oncology services as well as rehabilitation and support of cancer patients. In an environment designed to respect patients and their families

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Karpaz Gate  Marina (KGM), the eastern Mediterranean’s  newest superyacht marina, located on the stunning  Karpaz peninsula  of Northern Cyprus, is fast becoming the region’s  most desirable  over-wintering destination. The marina’s brand new facilities, competitive prices and mild winter climate make the marina and resort an attractive destination for those struggling to secure a berth in the over-crowded western  Mediterranean.

The lack of superyacht berths in the western  Mediterranean is widely reported, and a shortage results from the superyacht fleet having grown in the last decade (2001-2010) by 95.2 per cent, but the number of berths have not increase to meet the demand.

Marinas based in the eastern Mediterranean are increasing in popularity for  berthing and wintering a yacht as a result.

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Due to these austere times  fewer Cypriots  travelled aboard for he Christmas  holidays than they did in 2010.

On the basis of the results of the official Passengers Survey, 81,890 residents of Cyprus returned  from a trip aboard in December  compared to 89,228 in the corresponding  month last year recording  a decrease of  8.2%.

In December 2011 there was a 13.8% decline on the trips of residents to Greece (26,204 compared to 30,410 in December 2010) as well as 3.9% decrease in trips to the United Kingdom (25,657 compared to 26,712). It was the third consecutive  drop since October.,

For the 12 month period January –December , 1,20 million residents returned from a trip aboard  compared to 1,24 million for 2010 a decrease of 3%.

Over the year there was a 7,8% dip in trips to recession-hit Greece (395,045  2011 compared to 428,686 in 2010).

But last year there was a 1,9% increase in trips to the UK reaching 304,012 cyprus from 298,440 while the third largest destination from  Cyprus was Russia rising 1,6% to 55,508.

Unsurprisingly the biggest  dips were in visits to conflict-ravaged Egypt (-43,9% to 9291) and Syria (-55,7% to 6,517).

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The  drastic changes in world tourism and new prospects for Cyprus tourism will be the focus of the 34^th annual Cyprus Hotel Association (CHA)  conference at the Hilton Park Hotel  in Nicosia on Thursday, February 2.

The meeting’s key-note speaker will be Finance Minister Kikis Kazamias while experts from here and aboard, including Russia, Germany and Ireland, will address the event.

Titled  “ Year 2012: Critical for the long term future of Cyprus tourism,” the conference will in clued a products and services exhibition, also organised by CHA for 20^th consecutive year.

The meeting will open at 9pm and close at 4pm.

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