British and Russian tourists who have started to increase the occupancy of Paphos and British hotels, respectively, are giving their breath away to the hoteliers. Combined with the increase in domestic tourist traffic, hoteliers have begun to express more optimism for this season, although the data remains rather negative.
Brexit, the bankruptcy of airlines and the dynamic comeback of competing destinations continue to cause headaches for hoteliers who have already started bidding and dropping prices in an effort to keep their numbers at last year's levels, not so much their profit.
Attractive packages to hold the numbers
According to the president of PASYXE Famagusta, Doros Taka, the occupancy of hotels in Protaras and Ayia Napa reached 70-80%.
More encouraging are the messages for the summer since it seems that the Russian market is recovering after the slight fall last year. In fact, as Mr. Takas mentioned, the flow of bookings from Russians for the summer season is also increasing, creating the expectation that it will cover the loss from the British market.
More encouraging are the messages from both Central Europe and the Scandinavian countries, he said.
Mr. Takas noted, however, that "what we are focusing on for the time being is to keep last year's numbers, because the landscape is still fluid."
He explained that "what we are already doing is working closely with travel agents to put our hand in our pocket to make our package more attractive by offering some discounts or offers. "As soon as we expect profits to fall, we must not allow the numbers to shrink as well, because that means tour operators will be withdrawing flights that are difficult to restore."
Referring to Brexit, he said: "It is wrong to say that Brexit also affects our competitors, on the contrary, it helps them because the British are turning to Turkey mainly because they are afraid that they will have any complications in European destinations."
The British returned to Paphos
The president of PASYXE Paphos Thanos Michailidis told StockWatch that because Easter always coincides with the beginning of the summer season, it is natural for the crowds in the hotels to increase their pace. He said, however, that in general the situation regarding the summer season remains uncertain.
He expressed his satisfaction because the British tourists honored the hotels of Paphos again this Easter.
However, the plate is tilted towards the hotels of Paphos and for the Cypriots who vote for Paphos on Easter, said Mr. Michaelides and reminded that almost all the hotels offer special prices for the Cypriots, however he noted that so far the reservations are reduced because the Cypriots are usually last minute.
Answering a relevant question, he said that the good fullness of Easter is not an indication of the evolution of the summer season.
"The reduction in bookings for the summer remains around 4-5%", he stated and explained that "the measure of comparison, for us is the flow with which the bookings come. In order to differentiate the scenery, the flow must change significantly. That is, if the bookings are reduced by 5% to fill the gap, the flow should increase to such an extent that it fills the gap of other days as well ", he clarified.
"We hope that with the postponement of Brexit and the stabilization of sterling, the situation will be normalized during the summer and the gap in our favor will be significantly closed."
Improvement in Larnaca
Larnaca presents an improved picture due to Easter, mainly from the Russian market, said the president of PASYXE Larnaca, Ioanna Florentiadou.
"We see that there is a tendency for last minute bookings. "But we must not be deceived that the climate will be completely reversed, especially by the British market. The only creed is the Russian market, which we hope will largely fill the gap."
At least for Larnaca, the reduction from the British market is expected to exceed 20% because, as Ms. Florentiadou noted, "it received the biggest blow after the bankruptcy of Germany and the padlock imposed by Cobalt because it now shares airline seats with Paphos." .
He also commented that "Cyprus' biggest competitor is Turkey which has increased its tourism from Britain due to the attractive prices that are the biggest lure for British tourists".
Source: Stockwatch