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Cyprus Minister of Foreign Affairs Constantinos Kombos has issued a warning to citizens considering travel to the wider Middle East and Gulf, as regional tensions continue to disrupt movement and raise safety concerns.
He made it clear that citizens travel at their own risk and that the Cypriot government will not organise repatriation operations again for those who may be stranded in the countries covered by the Foreign Ministry’s travel guidelines.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has issued updated travel advisories recommending that Cypriot citizens avoid all travel to:
1. the United Arab Emirates
2. Iraq
3. Israel
4. Qatar
5. Kuwait
6. Lebanon
7. Kingdom of Bahrain
8. Saudi Arabia
About 1,000 civilians were repatriated to Cyprus, mostly from the UAE, after the outbreak of the war.
However, as the Orthodox Easter holiday season approaches, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is seeing an upward trend in the number of trips planned to the disputed areas.
“The effort to repatriate our fellow citizens from such areas that preceded the previous period was difficult,” said Kombos.
“It was successfully completed, but it cannot and will not be restarted in the future. Therefore, I underline that the issue must be approached from now on and in the context of the individual responsibility of each traveller who chooses to move beyond the direction set by our travel guidelines.”
At the same time, the Cypriot authorities are concerned about possible repercussions on the country’s tourism sector from the war in the Middle East.
Daily cancellation rates for short-term rentals in Cyprus soared up to 100% in the days after the conflict began, according to data from US research firm AirDNA.
Hotel occupancy rates remain low for April, which is considered the first month of the tourist season in Cyprus, while the flow of bookings remains low.
In March, the US upgraded its travel advisory for Cyprus to level three, which means “reconsider travel” due to increased security risk in the Middle East. Meanwhile, the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office advice for Cyprus says that regional escalation “poses significant security risks and has led to travel disruption”.
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