Paphos hoteliers are pessimistic about the volume of guests they will see in the coming weeks, citing low visitor numbers, based on the reservations they have recorded so far.

President of the Paphos Hoteliers Association (Pasyxe) Evripides Loizides on Thursday told the Cyprus News Agency (CNA) that the anticipated visitor turnout during the three-day weekend ending on March 18, encompassing the Cypriot carnival and Green Monday, falls short of hoteliers’ expectations.

The same goes for the three-day weekend ending on April 1, a national holiday for Cyprus.

In addition, he expressed disappointment about this fact, stating that hotels in the district were expecting a higher number of visitors.

Regarding the start of the tourist season, the Pasyxe president estimated that April, due to the early Easter, poses challenges for the months of April and May in terms of visitor numbers and occupancy rates, especially among British tourists.

He also noted a decrease in reservations for July, which might be attributed to concerns stemming from last year’s heatwave.

What is more, Loizides highlighted the uncertainty surrounding tourist arrivals from Israel.

There is no clarity as to whether this year’s inflow of Israeli tourists will be similar to 2023, when the number of Israeli visitors to Cyprus reached 300,000.

“Therefore”, Loizides explained, “the outlook for the new season is not as promising, primarily due to unpredictable factors such as the Israel-Gaza conflict, as well as the grounding of many aircraft at Larnaca airport”.