A large number of hoteliers in free Famagusta are worried about whether they will leave their hotels open, says the President of PASYXE Famagusta, Doros Takkas.
The President of the Pancyprian Hoteliers Association (PASYXE) Famagusta Doros Takkas told KYPE that in the free province of Famagusta the hotels started to open on April 4. This is a small number of hotels, said Mr. Takkas, which worked with Russians who then we expected, he said, to increase. The truth is that they increased but at the same time remained in low numbers he said.
In May, other hotels opened and prepared to welcome people from England, the Nordic countries and of course Russia, but unfortunately the number of tourists from Russia remained low and we did not see any movement from other markets in May, said the President. FAMILY Famagusta.
In June, he said, even more hotels opened, as we all believed that the situation with the Russian market would improve and at the same time the other two markets would open. "Unfortunately, today in mid-June, things are still extremely difficult," said Mr Takkas. condition.
A very important development, said Mr. Takkas, will be considered whether the Ministry of Labor will continue to subsidize staff. That is, without the subsidy of the staff from the Ministry that is completed at the end of this month, he said, it is certain that we will have a significant number of hotel units in the area which will close.
During the three days of the Flood, there is an increased demand from Cypriots, said Mr. Takkas, but we understand, as he said, that we are talking about two days, one day and a maximum of three days. Welcome but they can not maintain the industry in the area he said.
For the month of July, said Doros Takkas, unfortunately we have nothing in our hands since the bookings we receive from Russians are last minute, he said, and it is known to everyone that until at least July 19 there is a ban from England, the United Kingdom for outbound tourism and Cyprus is one of them.
Therefore, things said Mr. Takkas are very, very difficult. He said that the whole situation is loss-making and if we do not have dramatic changes in the next period, ie an increase in Russian tourists, after the release of direct flights and a date that can plan the tourist traffic from the United Kingdom, it seems that the year will turned out to be very, very ugly or let's put it another way not at what we all expected said.
95% of the hotels in the free province of Famagusta have opened while the rest of the hotels were scheduled to open in the next few days, he said.
If there is one thing we have to say, said Doros Takkas, it is that in the area of the free province of Famagusta, there are two main categories of hotels. They are the hotels that cooperate mostly with the English and Scandinavian market and the rest that cooperate with the Russian market.
Those who work with the Russian market, he said, are in a better position than the rest and may have fullness of up to 30 and 40% with reduced natural prices. The second category is in a very difficult position, he said, since their occupancy is less than 10% since their main and main markets remain closed.
Regarding the three days of the flood, there is an increased demand, we all see it in our hotels, he mentioned, and the fullness for the three days can reach 60-70%.
As for whether Cypriots benefit from the interior tourism plan, Doros Takkas said that most Cypriot tourists benefit from the program, which ends in June. The Cypriots come through the program that concerns domestic tourism with the prices being too low, ie a maximum of 60 euros per room, he said and said that the Cypriot tourist pays 31 euros, so we are talking about extremely attractive prices, he said, and there are offers from all hotels and given that there is fullness expressed the belief that the Cypriots will be fully satisfied.
Source: KYPE