Hotels in Famagusta area see 80% occupancy over Kataklysmos weekend

Hotels in the Famagusta region are expected to see 80 per cent occupancy rates through local interest over the weekend of Kataklysmos, the festival of the flood, from June 10 to 13, they said on Wednesday.

Doros Takkas, president of the Pancyprian Hotels Association (Pasyxe) in Famagusta told CNA that during April and May occupancy was only at 40-50 per cent in those hotels that did open.

“However, there is great interest for the three days of Kataklysmos,” he said, adding that hoteliers were receiving a lot of calls with most reservations expected in the week before.

“It seems that during these three days there will be a lot of mobility with Cypriot visitors and this is expected to make a difference. Also it is expected that the rest of June will be better than that of May with occupancy around 60 per cent,” he added.

Takkas said the subsidy for domestic tourism would help bookings this year but the gap left by the loss of Russian and Ukrainian tourists would not be filled.

“Yes, we have sought and managed to have tourism from old and new markets, but in general the issue of tourism is not going as we would like. The whole economic situation that prevails around the world is more difficult because of the war in Ukraine, the increase in fuel prices and the instability that exists in the Scandinavian countries, namely Finland and Sweden,” Takkas said.

He said that Poland had been a very good market for the Famagusta region, was also affected by the Ukraine war.

“In general, the conditions for tourism are not the best. However we hope some of our markets to maintain the numbers they had and with a small increase to overcome this difficult year.”

Referring to the hotels and tourist accommodation that opened for the season Takkas said it was adequate for demand but there were others that would not be opening especially in Ayia Napa and Protaras.

“Essentially, they are hotels that operated exclusively with Russia and could not go to other markets,” he said

“From the sanctions imposed by the European Union on Russia due to the war in Ukraine, Cyprus has received the biggest blow in the tourism sector as it has lost about a quarter,” he concluded.