The President of PASYXE, Thanos Michaelidis, characterizes the flow of reservations for the new tourist season as satisfactory, citing satisfactory interest from both small and large markets.
In his statements to KYPE, Mr. Michaelidis said that in 2023 Israel was the second largest tourist market and now its loss is recorded due to the war.
If we take into account that two years have passed since the outbreak of COVID-19, followed by the crisis in Ukraine and now we have the crisis with Israel, then we realize that it is extremely difficult to make predictions with a high degree of certainty, he added.
He continued, the hoteliers must be constantly on the alert, just like the Deputy Ministry of Tourism and also the Hermes company, which is a serious member of the tourism chain.
We are, he said, "all on alert and we are constantly working together to see how we can bring more tourists to Cyprus".
Asked about this, Mr. Michaelidis noted that on a global Cypriot level, approximately 1/3 of the hotels are open during this period.
He mentioned, at the same time, that the occupancy rates of the hotels that are open now are very low.
Indicatively, he noted "that in the hotels of the district of Paphos, which is a tourist destination par excellence, the occupancy rates reach 30% during this period". He added that in Limassol the tourist product is complex, since the city receives visitors for tourism as well as for business activities.
He also added that the months of January and February are the months with the lowest occupancy rates. Regarding the main markets of the tourism industry in Cyprus, Mr. Michaelidis stated that these are now the English, Polish and German markets.
Our goal is to increase the number of visitors not only in the summer months, but also to extend the tourist season and the winter season, concluded Mr. Michaelidis.