Famagusta hoteliers expect Autumn bookings boost

Hoteliers in Famagusta are expecting bookings to rise for September and October while the occupancy rates were satisfactory for August, their chairman Doros Takkas said on Friday.

“In Famagusta, especially after the first week of August, bookings were boosted while hotel occupancy reached and surpassed 70 per cent. In September, there was a drop, especially in the first days of the month and the occupancy rate is around 50 per cent,” he added.

According to Takkas, such a reduction was normal in the pre-Covid years too, with the situation improving after September, although this has not happened so far.

Hotel bookings in Cyprus from the British market, the main market for the island, are not moving as anticipated with the number of package holidays purchased being much lower than normal.

Cyprus is still in the deep red of the European Centre of Disease Control (ECDC) categorisation, which prevents travel from some countries.

“Russia remains the main market for Famagusta. Russian travel agents did not reduce their flights throughout September, which is a positive development. However, I believe that we will see some hotels which do not traditionally attract Russian tourists close by the end of September,” Takkas said.

He said the government scheme that sees it paying part of the stay of vaccinated or Covid recovering Cyprus residents will support hoteliers for the next few months.

“Our effort is focused on keeping the hotels open to cover September, October, and maybe November too,” he concluded.