Before winter fully embraces everyone, tourists are expected to visit beautiful beaches these winter holidays. Recent reports have suggested an increase in the number of tourists visiting Cyprus. The increase has been particularly witnessed with respect to North Cyprus. It is one of the immensely popular holiday destinations well known for its winter sun.

Various tourism officials have urged the tourists to book the tickets well in advance to avoid any disappointment. Many companies are also providing Euro-free trips to entice the customers. Experts suggest that North Cyprus is certainly one of the popular tourist spots among UK tourists at this time. It is also a viable winter destination.

It is well known for its historic landmarks, coupled with beautiful sandy beaches. Moreover, it is ideal for winter because Northern Cyprus offers an average 300 days of uninterrupted sunshine. Kyrenia and Famagusta are some of the most popular resorts in Cyprus.

It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Cyprus is already famous for its historical museums and galleries. Tombs of the kings and Archbishop’s Palace are some of the popular historical sites.

Tourists should hurry up with the booking process to avoid missing out on an exciting opportunity.

The Cyprus Tourism Organisation has asked for a review of its approximate £10 million media and advertising accounts all over Europe. The advertising for the organisation, which is currently being handled by Team Saatchi, has its media buying and planning managed by a Cyprus based firm, Epistle.

The regions that are included in the review consist of the UK, where the Cyprus tourist board spends around £3 million, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Greece, Germany, Finland and the UAE, Lebanon and Bahrain. Prior to the appointment of Epistle, the organisation’s representative in the UK was OMD.

Last year, the account for the pitch went up and OMD refused to re-pitch. Since, then Carat has also handled the media buying for the organisation on a one-off TV project. Team Saatchi, who has worked on the organisation’s account for the last three years, recently launched a TV campaign.

The TV campaign features a series of holiday vignettes which displays a woman walking along the shore, a family gathering to have an alfresco dinner and a few people cycling through the woods. A heart appears at the end of every vignette. The Cyprus Tourism Organisation has the position of a semi-governmental organisation and is the official organisation for tourism in the South of Cyprus.

Earlier this month, Etihad Airways signed a MOU (memorandum of understanding) with Cyprus Airways in a move that seems to highlight its ambitions for the island.

This agreement is a precursor to a codeshare deal that is expected to commence in September of this year between the two airlines.

Etihad Airways is to place ‘CY’ – the code for Cyprus Airways – on its own flights between Larnaca and Abu Dhabi in order to extend its presence in Cyprus by cooperating with the island’s national airline.

Peter Baumgartner, Chief Commercial Officer of Etihad, said:

“Since launching services between Abu Dhabi and Cyprus, demand has continued to grow for Etihad Airways’ flights and we are therefore delighted to sign this MOU with Cyprus Airways which will support our expansion in this important market.”

The expansion of the airline and its international network this year, which includes new flights to Athens and Istanbul, may signal good news for those seeking holiday deals with the airline. Holidays to Cyprus are available from many airports in the UK.

EasyJet has recently declared that this winter it will be extending the number of flights and destinations within Europe by launching 15 new routes.

These new services will include flights to several popular holiday destinations and eight of these new connections will be operating from airports in the UK.

Those seeking cheap holidays in the sun will be pleased to hear that Liverpool Airport is to host some new flights to Fuerteventura and Lanzarote and Luton Airport will be operating flights to Paphos and Sharm el Sheikh.

The network from Gatwick Airport will also be extended including new flights to Hamburg and Porto. Another route to Fuerteventura will be opened from Stansted Airport.

Andy Harrison, chief executive of the airline, said:

“We are delighted to be announcing even more new routes from the UK and across Europe. Times are tough for consumers, so we are proud to offer great year-round holiday opportunities in fantastic places such as Paphos, Fuerteventura and Sharm El Sheikh for incredibly low prices.”

Other services to be offered by EasyJet in the summer season include flights from Manchester Airport to Corfu, Athens and Corsica.

The tourist board for the Mediterranean island of Malta has said that this year, Malta will be offering ‘incredible value for money’.

The Malta Tourist Board commented that Malta is much more affordable than several other popular destinations for holidays, and offers cheap getaways for the Brits even though it is within the Eurozone.

According to the latest information from the Post Office, following Spain and Portugal, Malta is the most affordable destination in the Eurozone.

The annual Holiday Costs Survey conducted by the Post Office takes a basket of your typical items for holidays and compares prices in different popular holiday destinations. The latest study showed that the basket in Malta was almost 15 per cent cheaper than the same basket in Cyprus and 1.5 per cent cheaper than in Egypt.

Alex Incorvaja, UK director of the Malta Tourism Authority, said:

“Much attention has focused on non-Eurozone destinations such as Egypt over the last few months but Malta still offers incredible value for money as a holiday destination, as the survey proves. Even with the current exchange rate, a cup of coffee on Malta will only set you back £0.96 whilst a bottle of beer averages £1.34.”

Direct holidays to Malta are available at some excellent prices and several air carriers are available, including Air Malta, British Airways and Lufthansa, from most of the major airports across the UK.

In May 2009, the Anthestiria Festival is set to arrive in the city of Paphos in Cyprus. The festival is an ancient Greek celebration of nature’s rebirth and springtime. Huge parades of people and flower floats crafted from stunning fresh flowers travel down Poseidon Avenue and fill the old harbour (Kato Paphos).

The festival is part of the celebrations in Athens which occurred every four years in honour of the god of parties and theatre, Dionysus. The festival is due to take place to herald the beginning of spring.

Holidaymakers who are interested in visiting Cyprus may also be interested to know that the Tomb of the Kings in Paphos feature on UNESCO’s World Heritage list. The famous tomb dates back to 300BC when Ancient Greeks ruled the country with Paphos as their capital city. In the tomb, it was the high officials and not kings that were buried; however, the magnificence of these burial chambers gave the venue its name.
The burial site comprises eight individual sections of different tomb complexes. Some of the tombs are known as holes called loculi, however, some of the others are considerably more elaborate with long and steep flights of steps down to the roomy tombs.

The plants and flowers in Cyprus bloom both in winter and spring and although unploughed, the ground is covered in a blanket of coloured flowers and cascades of cyclamen.

Those seasonal family holidays who are going to Cyprus in the hope of celebrating their New Year’s Eve in the Cypriot city of Paphos, could quite possibly get the chance to view the largest doner kebab that has ever been created, amongst a great deal of other activities.

Paphos has rounded up all its local cooks for the attempt at breaking the world record for the largest doner kebab ever created and will play a huge part in the city’s New Year celebrations.

Paphos is organising the 2009 New Year Celebrations for the first time in 5 years. Most of the festive activity is to take place near the town hall and around its huge Christmas tree which is situated just outside the door.

The celebrations are due to start on the 31st December at 10pm local time and they will be open to everyone. This New Year celebration will include music, entertainment and free drinks!

Authorities for the city have invested heavily in a large number of new Christmas decorations this year; including the fully illuminated Poseidonos Avenue within Kato Paphos. It is the first time ever that Paphos will have invested in decorations of this magnitude in the town’s history.

Ada Maxwell is a seasonal resident and she told a national British tabloid:

“I come to Paphos for the winter and this year the seafront looks fabulous. I walked down here last night and I felt really Christmassy. The new promenade is great and is set off beautifully at night by the twinkling lights.”

Paphos is a popular destination for festive family holidays but this year there are more flights to Cyprus due to the town promising to offer a large festive agenda; from record breaking attempts to a stunning display of lights, entertainment, food and free drinks at the town’s New Year’s Eve party. There are events to pack your New Year holiday calendar within a host of other resorts around Cyprus including the renowned party town of Ayia Napa and the towns of Nicosia and Limassol.

The new Paphos international airport in Cyprus was launched this week and according to sources, the initial operations experienced no problems at all.

The 17th November saw the first departure take off on time at 10.30am, travelling to London Heathrow airport with Cyprus Airways and the first arrival was from Helsinki with Finnair.

According to the Cyprus Mail, a spokesperson for Hermes, the operating company of the airport, Adam Aspris said that operations ran smoothly all day. He said:

‘We are very pleased about the first day of operation and all the procedures ran smoothly. There were no major problems, and the passengers seemed pleased with the level and quality of service they received.’

Hermes had set up several tests to make sure that there would be no problems during the airport’s first operational day, including using mock passengers to run through the facilities and report back to Hermes.

Flights on the hub’s first day included fourteen inbound and fourteen outbound scheduled services. Over 2 million passengers are expected to use the airport throughout its first year of service.

Cyprus is a popular destination with many Brits as cheap holidays are aplenty.

The president of Cyprus, Demetris Christofias, was involved in an inauguration ceremony on the 8th November for the new international airport in Cyprus, in the bargain holidays hotspot Paphos.

At this event, the president confirmed the government would continue to support the tourist industry for the island.

He said:

‘Particular emphasis is given on supporting the tourist industry and maintaining the tourist traffic to Cyprus at least at the level of previous years. This target can only be achieved through attracting tourists from new markets like Russia, Ukraine and others.’

The new airport has been designed with the reported myth of Paphos’ relationship with the Greek goddess Aphrodite. After 27 months of construction, the airport was completed both on time and within budget.

The new airport will open on Monday 17th November and is expected to handle approximately 2.7 million passengers each year. It has a large car park area, relaxation and retail places as well as VIP accommodation.

Next year, another new airport is planned for Larnaca, expected to open next November. There are still plenty of cheap holidays available for those who wish to spend some time in the winter sun of Cyprus.

Cyprus has been a great venue for cheap holidays in the past few years and this weekend, many classic car fans will be pleased to take advantage of the cheap hotels as they celebrate a classic annual event.

From 11th to 13th July, the Historic Car Rally will be taking place on the island, which will make a very different weekend break in the sunshine-soaked country.

According to VisitEurope.com:

“Historic rallying is the fastest growing side of motor sport and is an excellent introduction for people contemplating motor sport for the first time.”

Classic car motorists will be driving their cars through the mountains and the four largest Cypriot towns, exploring the island in style.  It will make a great sight for onlookers.

The festivitied will commence in Nicolia at the Jaguar showroom.  The procession will travel through Paphos, Limassol and Larnaca and returning to Nicosia.

Cyprus has much to offer at any time of year with its traditional village life, ancient sites including medieval castles and for those seeking relaxation, there are many golden beaches set against a backdrop of rugged mountains.

Flights to Cyprus are available from most UK airports.