The Russian visitors, who make up 40% of the total tourist inflow at the moment, give a reinforcing injection to the difficult course of this year's tourist season, said to KYPE, the General Manager of the Pancyprian Hoteliers Association (PASYXE) Filosipros added There is also from the Ukrainian market, which helps the whole situation.
Mr. Rousounidis said that the movement of August is more than that of July. "It seems that the average fullness will be around 45%. "During the weekend of the 70th of August, these fillings reached up to XNUMX%, while in some cases they even exceeded it", he noted.
August, he said, will close with an average fullness of around 45%. "Our main markets are the Russian market at the moment and the Ukrainian market with Great Britain not seeming to open as much as we would expect due to the uncertainty caused by the pandemic," he added.
It is encouraging, he continued, that there are some reservations for September as well. "We hope that this will continue in October with the hope that the conditions will be created and our epidemiological picture will be such that they will allow us to have a tourist influx this month as well," he noted.
As Mr. Rousounidis said, there is a satisfaction on the part of hoteliers, "in the sense that there is an increasing trend in bookings and tourist influx since last year. "The first goal we have set is to make this year better than last year, but on the other hand we can not help but see the bigger picture, which like last year was a huge blow, so this year is just as big."
It is two years, he continued, which last year was lost, this year is very difficult but we hope and want to always be positive that with the vaccination program and improving our epidemiological picture, to achieve 2022 to be the beginning of recovery for the tourism industry.
If we continue at this pace, he said, we will be able to catch the target this year. "If our epidemiological picture remains at this level and improves further, we may have increased numbers from the UK for September and possibly October in an effort to reduce the extent of the damage," he added.
Mr. Rousounidis said that the majority of the Cypriots, who spent their holidays in hotels, breathed a sigh of relief with the plan of the Ministry of Tourism, which helped the units to reach satisfactory fullness even on weekends. He clarified, however, that this is not something that can change the whole picture since it was only for a few days.
With the end of this plan at the end of August, he noted, the domestic tourism support plan that existed in June, which will be valid until the end of November, will come into force again. "The state gives our compatriots the opportunity to take cheap holidays from July until the end of November, something that did not exist in the past, to have subsidized holidays for so long," he added.
We are positive, said Mr. Rousounidis, that through dialogue and finding the appropriate convergences with the State and the government, as we did in the last year and a half, to find solutions to the problems.
"The cooperation of the private sector with the public has shown that it can create the conditions so that the industry is protected and we can move forward in 2022, which we hope will be the beginning of a recovery," he added.