The TRNC has kicked off its “biggest ever” tourism marketing campaign with ads at major European airports, in city centres and on television.
This week, monitors throughout London’s Stansted Airport have been screening a rotating programme of adverts extolling the attractions of North Cyprus.
One, showing logger head turtle hatchlings going into a pristine sea, declares it “The only time the beaches get crowded” while another shows a photo of Girne harbour and the slogan: “A really warm welcome… enjoy 300+ days of sunshine and the finest hospitality in the Mediterranean.”
A third ad focuses on Salamis’s Roman ruins, with the wording “Become a time traveller – virtually untouched in the last millennium, a fusion of natural beauty, pristine beaches and historical treasures.”
Tourism Minister Faiz Sucuoğlu, who revealed the campaign to Cyprus Today last month, said: “We are receiving a lot of feedback from people who have seen North Cyprus advertised on London’s double-decker buses, on 130 black cabs, big billboards in Oxford Street and in Underground stations.
“I think the photos show a true reflection of the natural beauty of the TRNC, from the Karpaz’s Golden Sands beach to historical sites and ancient harbours.”
He added: “All the UK-based advertising is costing us £250,000, with adverts at Heathrow, Stansted, Manchester and Luton airports to continue for another three weeks.
“The same adverts are being run in Berlin, Düsseldorf and Frankfurt in Germany, at a cost of 150,000 euros.”
Dr Sucuoğlu said a parallel major advertising campaign would start in Istanbul on Monday.
“We are finalising an agreement to advertise North Cyprus at Istanbul’s Atatürk airport; a very large bill board of North Cyprus will be seen by everyone as soon as they are in the airport terminal, either arriving or departing, plus there will be an additional 98 billboards around the airport and the area advertising North Cyprus.
“We have also finalised agreements to show 20-second adverts on popular television channels.”
The minister said he was focusing on two main visitor streams: mass tourism and eco- or agri- tourism.
“I have an ambition to attract three million tourists a year. Currently the figure stands at 700,000 a year.”
