Hotel occupancy in the free area of Famagusta only reaches 10% due to the coronavirus pandemic, Doros Takkas, President of the Pancyprian Hoteliers Association (PASYXE) of Famagusta, told KYPE.
He added that "we expect that in August, in addition to our Cypriot compatriots who expect to increase in number, we do not expect to have more arrivals from abroad, since the markets remain the same, ie Germany, Poland, Austria and other small markets. . In fact, it seems that Britain, Russia and Sweden are out of the game until August. "
Especially the travel agents of the United Kingdom, he noted, “have informed that until their country joins category A, the British will not travel to Cyprus even if the crown test is free. "There is no interest from the British to travel to our island under these conditions and at the moment we do not expect any movement from the English market".
Answering a relevant question, Mr. Takkas said that “today we have in the area open about 25 hotel units and some other complexes, which are tourist rooms and Airbnb. The fullness is very low on weekdays and increases due to the Cypriot market and domestic tourism on weekends ". He added that "the free area of Famagusta offers very attractive prices for accommodation in 3- and 4-star hotels, with prices starting from 60 euros per night with breakfast."
He noted that "on weekdays the occupancy does not exceed 10% and reaches 40-50% on weekends, however these percentages can not keep the tourism industry viable. We saw this happen in June, it is repeated in July and we hope that things will be a little better in August ".
For his part, the Director of ETAP Famagusta Lakis Avraamidis said that "the current situation in the free area of Famagusta is not good as there is an unstable situation on the issue of the coronavirus pandemic, with new cases appearing in various European countries and beyond." .
He added that "unfortunately the hopes we had for satisfactory fullness in the hotels in the area, proved to be futile, since visitors, both in Cyprus and abroad, affected by the situation, can not plan holidays." They are trying, he said, to see "what can be saved for the remaining months of the summer season, so that businesses can work even for a short time."
Answering a relevant question, the Director of ETAP Famagusta said that “2019 is judged by the various tourism agencies as a very satisfactory year in terms of traffic in the free area of Famagusta. We expected that this would happen again this year, however, due to the coronavirus pandemic, such a thing is impossible since people do not have, among other things, the financial ability to take vacations ".
Regarding domestic tourism, Mr. Avraamidis said that “from the beginning of the establishment of ETAP we had given great importance to this issue. Due to the events and the non-arrival of tourists from abroad, the Company in cooperation with all the institutions, the Municipalities and the Communities of the free province of Famagusta, organized a dynamic campaign to attract Cypriot visitors ".
He explained that “the campaign that has been released with the support of the Ministry of Tourism, was promoted in all media, electronic, television and radio. With the title "Famagusta, it is your summer" the campaign emphasizes not only the beautiful beaches of the area but also inland, in an effort to help the Communities of the province of Famagusta to attract domestic tourism ".
Famagusta.News