The Director of the Paphos Region Tourism Development and Promotion Company, Nasos Hatzigeorgiou, told KYPE that although there was very good planning for the winter flight schedule of several airlines, unfortunately, due to the pandemic and the unpredictable weather, the weather is unpredictable. at very low levels, while there are many flight cancellations, he said.
He also estimated that after the first week of January it appears that there will be a drastic reduction in flights from a number of airports. The focus is now, he continued, on next year, as forecasts focus on 2022 with the hope that the pandemic will end and that there will be no serious losses.
In addition, Mr. Hatzigeorgiou stated that there is a need for everyone around the world to restart the tourism industry. Both, as he said, from the states, from potential travelers as well as from airlines, tour operators, hotel and food industry and all those who are directly or indirectly related to the tourism industry. He estimated that the tourism industry in Cyprus can be restarted even at a slow pace, if the epidemiological picture of our country allows it, initially perhaps with domestic tourism and then with visitors from other countries depending on the categorization and from various other countries.
Meanwhile, there are no flight cancellations at Paphos and Larnaca airports until the end of December, Hermes estimates, however, with the start of the new year and the month of January, there will be a clearer picture, he says.
For his part, the president of the Paphos Hoteliers Association Thanos Michailidis told KYPE that without an adequate flight program the tourism of Cyprus can not be developed, adding that this year at Paphos airport, there were flights from new destinations that did not happen in the past. This, Mr. Michailidis said, contributed to the increase in the flow of hotel bookings, when the main market, which is the United Kingdom, had no dynamics at all. He also said that the issue of flights is a complex issue, an economic decision that every airline must make and has to do with the popularity of Cyprus as a destination.
As for the winter season 2021-2022, there are flights and flights continue from new destinations to Paphos and Larnaca, but, as he said, due to the pandemic and the evolution with the Omicron variant, bookings to hotels have decreased. Indicatively, Mr. Michailidis stated that they have received cancellations concerning the months of December, January and February, which certainly complicates the already problematic situation concerning the hotel industry of Paphos. He added that there are hotels that are reviewing their decision to stay in operation for the winter season we are going through now.
Regarding the flights, Mr. Michailidis noted that the tourists who come to Cyprus do not all end up in hotel units, emphasizing that there are people who choose to stay in a licensed tourist accommodation without having, as he said, specific statistics on this.
Asked about this, he said that this year the flights from new destinations were strengthened, such as in the summer from France, which usually did not exist and in fact from two new airports.
Source: KYPE