NICOSIA, April 11 (Xinhua) -- Cyprus expects an increase in tourist arrivals this year, but the figure is likely to still stay below that registered in 2019, a senior official said here on Monday.

       "We believe that 2022 would be a better year for tourism despite the loss of visitors from Russia and Ukraine," Savvas Perdios, deputy minister of tourism, told a meeting of hotels managers.

       In pre-COVID year 2019, Cyprus hosted a record 6 million tourists, who contributed about 2.68 billion euros (2.9 billion U.S. dollars) or 21 percent to the country's gross domestic product. Slightly less than 1 million tourists arrived in Cyprus in 2020 and almost 2 million in 2021.

       Perdios said he expected an increase in the number of tourists arriving from the United Kingdom, Israel, France, Switzerland and Austria.

       Christos Angelides, president of the Cyprus Hotel Managers' Association, said that most hotels in the country are already operating at or near capacity thanks mainly to the upcoming Easter weekend.