Direct Flights from China to Cyprus now a reality! It is a known fact that, our islands’ affiliations with China have been increasing in the past few yearswith more and more citizens of China preferring Cyprus, not only for holidays, but also as a permanent residence destination. Therefore, the recent news of a local travelling agency based in Paphos signing an agreement with an aviation company in Shanghai for direct flights to and from our island, ensures our future cooperation and enhances our relationships even more.
It was mentioned that a group of journalists and representatives of the China Central Television will be visiting Cyprus for an inspection visit just before this Christmas 2015 in an effort to promote our island to China while in March 2016 three hundred visitors are already scheduled to arrive.
It is estimated that there will be three direct flights a week which accounts to around 500,000 visitors in the first year and the agency is aiming for an all year round operation rather than just in the summer months.
Even though the potential number of flights to be landing to our Paphos International Airport has not been decided yet, the benefits of these visits are numerous and the potential enormous. The Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry (C.C.C.I.) emphasized the great potential of investments in Paphos by Chinese companies which will also spread to the property sector.
Perhaps now it would be the time to start adjusting and modifying our local economy to facilitate this change of things should we want to maximize the business benefits that this entails and to further facilitate our visitors. According to the C.C.C.I. in Paphos, the possibility of the creation of a technological park, the launch of Chinese companies and the setting up of pharmaceutical companies may be actions towards achieving this goal.
The investment interest also spreads to the tourist sector as it is estimated that approximately 117 million Chinese are travelling each year and our hotels will have the opportunity to host them. The mutual benefits of this future co-operation are many; they spread from a simple exchange of ideas and the introduction of new culture elements for both sides, to the economic advantages which may be extremely beneficial. However, actions must always be generated by respect, honesty and harmony which is the core value in the Chinese culture. Harmony refers to the “proper and balanced coordination between things” and it is a value for our future actions to be based on if we are to maximize the benefits of this great potential which is approaching.