With tourism hammered by lockdown, Cyprus expects July comeback

Cyprus hopes to regain lost ground in its tourism sector from July and expects to be able to re-admit British and Russian visitors by then after weeks of lockdown.

The Mediterranean island moved swiftly to contain the outbreak, ordering a broad lockdown within days of its first registered case on March 9. It started easing it on May 4 and hotels will reopen on June 1.

Tourism accounts for about 13 percent of output. With five months of the season lost, Cyprus expects, at best, about 30% of last year's total of 3.98 million visitors.

"The hit is massive, and we are trying to do our best now and do what we can for the remainder of the season. We have worked extremely hard to keep the virus in check here," Deputy Tourism Minister Savvas Perdios said.

Cyprus has emerged relatively unscathed by the pandemic. It has reported less than 950 cases, and 17 deaths....