Hoteliers in the Famaguta area are projecting a very good August for tourism, president of the region’s hoteliers association Panayiotis Constantinou said on Sunday.

With occupancy levels of between 85 and 95 per cent, the area is doing well, he told the Cyprus News Agency.

“Though there are some small hotel units that still have problems since they were almost completely dependent on the Russian market, the general picture is very good for August,” he said.

Asked how the month compared to the record breaking year of 2019, Constantinou said it was too early to tell because of the increased number of last minute bookings. However, he said figures were certainly higher than last year.

He said the area had been hardest hit by the war in Ukraine as around 60-65 per cent of the 900,000 Russian and Ukrainian tourists visiting the island would head to Famagusta, and it is difficult “to cover the loss”.

Now “the biggest market for us is the English, followed by Israel, the Scandinavian countries and countries of central Europe such as Germany, Switzerland, France and Austria in addition to other markets that have seen a rise in bookings,” he added.

One market that has covered some of the loss of Russian arrivals is Poland.

Also helping prop up tourism in the area are repeat visitors who travel each year to Ayia Napa and Protaras.

The other problem faced by the sector is lack of staff, he said.

“The quality of services offered by the tourism sector has been affected since we cannot train personnel from one day to the next to meet today’s needs,” Constantinou said.

As a beach resort, Famagusta also suffers from being a seasonal choice, but Constantinou said efforts are underway between the hoteliers association, the tourism ministry and the local tourism board to extend the season into spring and winter.

“This will take some time,” he said, “and I don’t think we will see significantly increased numbers of tourists this winter. But I am hopeful that slowly, slowly the months of November and March will be included in the tourist season”.