Occupancy of hotels throughout Cyprus fluctuates at 85% in October, the president of the Pancypriot Association of Hoteliers Thanos Michailidis told KYPE, noting at the same time that the school holidays in England also contributed to this.
In his statements to KYPE, Mr. Michaelidis said that from November to March, arrivals will be limited, while hotel prices will also be reduced during this period. He added that the number of hotels that will remain open in the winter season is not yet clear, noting that there may be enough beds available in the winter, but that alone is not satisfactory because there is not enough variety in the type of beds.
As he said, "a tourist destination like Cyprus must have three-star, four- and five-star small and large hotels", adding that, "needs may be covered numerically, but the point is that the tourist has the option of choosing".
By having more hotels open in the winter, we have a better March and April which are the starting months of the summer season, and a better November which is the end of summer so the industry will start to be more profitable, he added.
According to the President of PASYXE, it is important, even if late, to have a revised program of suspensions of the workforce in the hotel industry, so that more units can remain in operation.
Ways must be found, he continued, so that we support work and not unemployment and that the people who work in the hotel industry can work around the clock and there is a stability of work, but also so that skills are not lost.
He also pointed out that they expect from the government some revisions to the existing programs that were in operation last year and that need updating.
Mr. Michaelidis added that it is necessary to change the program, to announce it to the tourist markets so that the tourist agents know that Cyprus will have more hotels open in the winter season. It takes time to build the tourist flow in the winter as well, he said, noting that unfortunately this year we have reached November and we still do not have these revised programs.
Source: KYPE