Tourists and hoteliers of the free province of Famagusta are sitting on burning coals, waiting for the developments with Brexit. For years, the British is the largest tourist market in Cyprus, which is why the actors of the province of Famagusta are justifiably anxious about the developments in Great Britain and whether or not they will affect (and to what extent) the tourist traffic from United Kingdom next summer.
And while the tourist resorts of the province are slowly gaining "life" with the opening of the first hotels and restaurants, mainly in Ayia Napa, the interest from the English market in view of the upcoming summer tourist season is numb, which creates, to some extent , some concern to local actors. This is because free Famagusta has absorbed in recent years around 25% of the total tourist pie from the United Kingdom, a percentage that is considered particularly important, as it brings good income to the local economy.
"We can do nothing but follow closely the developments in Great Britain with the hope that these developments will not affect the tourist market of Cyprus at the end of the day and if they do, it will be done as little as possible," he told "PI" Lakis Avraamidis, an official of the Famagusta Tourism Development and Promotion Company, added: “At the moment, the interest from the United Kingdom for summer vacations in the resorts of free Famagusta and Cyprus in general is showing ups and downs. There are some British travel agencies that send reservations in view of the summer months, but there are some other companies that are είναι waiting. The problem is general, for the whole of Europe. ". Mr. Avraamidis expressed the hope that the whole of Cyprus, not only Ayia Napa and Protaras, will approach last year the levels in terms of tourist traffic not only from the British market, but also from the rest of our traditional markets, because, as He explained that next summer the markets of Turkey, Tunisia and Egypt are expected to open for good, markets that are expected to attract tourism from all over Europe.
2.000 beds
Meanwhile, according to data from the Famagusta Tourism Development and Promotion Company, this summer in the tourist resorts of the province are expected to be made available to tourists, foreign and local, about 2.000 beds more than in 2018. As explained by Mr. Avraamidis, the largest number of tourist beds is due to the operation of new hotels that have been built, but also to the extensions-upgrades that were made to existing units. The first hotels and tourist businesses (restaurants, pubs, etc.) have already reopened in Ayia Napa, while most hotels in the area are expected to reopen by the end of this month. It is estimated that by mid-April the vast majority of hotels in the province will be operational.
Source: CITIZEN