Cyprus situation.
Cyprus situation.
Is anyone out there in Southern Cyprus? My son and girlfriend are holidaying in Pathos from 5 April. Just wondered how the tourists are managing at the moment getting cash and using credit cards. Thank you.
P.S. ignore my name - we are in the UK!
P.S. ignore my name - we are in the UK!
Who knows what it will be like on the 4th as that is 11 days away.
here is the latest news.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/2 ... f=business
PS I assume you mean Paphos
here is the latest news.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/2 ... f=business
PS I assume you mean Paphos
Never try to out-stubborn your guests.
http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/travel-and-liv ... ope/cyprus
see the UK Foreign Office travel advisories pages - usually fairly up to date afaik.
see the UK Foreign Office travel advisories pages - usually fairly up to date afaik.
- PW in Polemi
- Posts: 1781
- Joined: Sun Oct 21, 2012 5:23 am
- Location: A village in Paphos, Cyprus
Hi Kyreniagirl
Your son & girlfriend should bring as much cash as they can and not rely on cards at the moment. Many businesses are not accepting cheques or cards because the banking system is not working, and they need the cash from their customers to pay their suppliers. The banks may be back to work by the time they arrive, but the banking union is threatening a strike by Laiki and Bank of Cyprus employees which may prevent staff at other banks from going to work.
If your son & girlfriend can bring small denomination euro notes, all the better because with the banks closed, although the ATMs are working (to a fairly low limit per day), they dish out 20 and 50 euro notes and the shops/restaurants/cafes etc cannot get change from the closed banks!
I'm sure they'll have a lovely holiday, particularly if they venture away from the touristy area of Paphos
Your son & girlfriend should bring as much cash as they can and not rely on cards at the moment. Many businesses are not accepting cheques or cards because the banking system is not working, and they need the cash from their customers to pay their suppliers. The banks may be back to work by the time they arrive, but the banking union is threatening a strike by Laiki and Bank of Cyprus employees which may prevent staff at other banks from going to work.
If your son & girlfriend can bring small denomination euro notes, all the better because with the banks closed, although the ATMs are working (to a fairly low limit per day), they dish out 20 and 50 euro notes and the shops/restaurants/cafes etc cannot get change from the closed banks!
I'm sure they'll have a lovely holiday, particularly if they venture away from the touristy area of Paphos
Dogs have masters. Cats have slaves!
- PW in Polemi
- Posts: 1781
- Joined: Sun Oct 21, 2012 5:23 am
- Location: A village in Paphos, Cyprus
Yeah, it's not been the best 2 weeks of my life so far
However, things could be a lot worse. We're not in Syria being bombed. We're not suffering mudslides, snow blizzards or torrential rain. The sun shines on most days and heats our hot water for free I've just been given another carrier bag full of lemons so will make another (very) lemon cake and more (very) lemon curd. The tulips are just coming into flower in our village
http://www.cyprus-mail.com/cyprus/celeb ... i/20120408
but we've not heard anything about the festival yet - I guess the organisers have their minds on other things
However, things could be a lot worse. We're not in Syria being bombed. We're not suffering mudslides, snow blizzards or torrential rain. The sun shines on most days and heats our hot water for free I've just been given another carrier bag full of lemons so will make another (very) lemon cake and more (very) lemon curd. The tulips are just coming into flower in our village
http://www.cyprus-mail.com/cyprus/celeb ... i/20120408
but we've not heard anything about the festival yet - I guess the organisers have their minds on other things
Dogs have masters. Cats have slaves!
Thank you so much for the advice. I will tell them small. euro notes. Luckily they are booked for breakfast and evening meal so providing the hotel actually has food or the money to pay it's supplier's they will only have lunch to buy.PW in Polemi wrote:Hi Kyreniagirl
Your son & girlfriend should bring as much cash as they can and not rely on cards at the moment. Many businesses are not accepting cheques or cards because the banking system is not working, and they need the cash from their customers to pay their suppliers. The banks may be back to work by the time they arrive, but the banking union is threatening a strike by Laiki and Bank of Cyprus employees which may prevent staff at other banks from going to work.
If your son & girlfriend can bring small denomination euro notes, all the better because with the banks closed, although the ATMs are working (to a fairly low limit per day), they dish out 20 and 50 euro notes and the shops/restaurants/cafes etc cannot get change from the closed banks!
I'm sure they'll have a lovely holiday, particularly if they venture away from the touristy area of Paphos
I would be very grateful if you could post or pm me if the situation changes for the worse or better. Many thanks.
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- Posts: 2
- Joined: Mon Mar 25, 2013 2:33 pm
- Location: Cyprus
Cyprus
Just had a Facebook update from a tavern owner in Paphos he says in the tourist area not much is different, atms still work the Brits are still on the beach and the wine is still flowing. And the crisis has been going on for years.
I wish we did not have to work, I am sure we can all think of better ways to spend our time
- PW in Polemi
- Posts: 1781
- Joined: Sun Oct 21, 2012 5:23 am
- Location: A village in Paphos, Cyprus
Banks are open today, albeit at strange hours. They are only letting 3 people inside at a time, so one or 2 banks we passed this morning had 3 or 4 people waiting outside rather than queuing inside. No riots, no problems. All quite quiet in Paphos, even down on Tomb of the Kings road, a major touristy area. However, as the tourist season does not really get going until after Easter, it's not so surprising - the Greek Orthodox Easter is not for another month!
Kyreniagirl, your son & gf will be fine, they probably won't even notice anything has been wrong with the banking system. People are getting cash from ATMs and now that the banks are working again, banking transfers are going ahead and credit/debit cards are being taken, although 2 out of 3 shops we visited this morning preferred to take our Hellenic debit card rather than the Bank of Cyprus one!
I don't know about hotels/restaurants in Paphos town, but the tavernas up here in the hills have had no problems with getting food - and a lot of them shop in the same supermarkets as we do since Cyprus does not seem to have a wholesalers for the trade. The 2 supermarkets we visited this morning were well stocked and had plenty of customers.
Kyreniagirl, your son & gf will be fine, they probably won't even notice anything has been wrong with the banking system. People are getting cash from ATMs and now that the banks are working again, banking transfers are going ahead and credit/debit cards are being taken, although 2 out of 3 shops we visited this morning preferred to take our Hellenic debit card rather than the Bank of Cyprus one!
I don't know about hotels/restaurants in Paphos town, but the tavernas up here in the hills have had no problems with getting food - and a lot of them shop in the same supermarkets as we do since Cyprus does not seem to have a wholesalers for the trade. The 2 supermarkets we visited this morning were well stocked and had plenty of customers.
Dogs have masters. Cats have slaves!
PW. Thank you very much for the update. They are feeling more confident now especially as the reopening of the banks was so calm and orderly. They will still take small euro notes. Which us sensible. They will probably come back as ask what all the fuss is about! Thanks again, there's nothing quite like an ear on the ground.