At a time when tourism is being reshaped at a faster pace than ever, the President of the Association of Cyprus Travel & Tourism Agents (ACTTA) Charis Papacharalambous opens up exclusively to 'Xenodochos' and talks about the new conditions that hospitality professionals are called upon to manage.
Speaking in the December 2025 issue of the Cyprus Hotels Association's monthly newsletter, within an interview that neither embellishes situations nor sweeps challenges under the rug, Papacharalambous explains that discounts can prove to be a tool but also a trap.
He analyses what a strong brand in hospitality really means, which strategy leads to high occupancy rates without eroding the value of the product, and what the new profile of a traveller operating within an increasingly fluid, technologically driven environment is.
In his interview, Papacharalambous presents a perspective that makes every hotelier stop, think and - perhaps for the first time - take a second look at seasonal offers viewing them not as a "necessary evil" but as a highly intelligent strategy.
Tourism is going through a crucial period. Special offers are just one of the various ways that entrepreneurs in the sector often use to attract customers to their accommodations. Let's start with this, but setting it on the right footing. With what criteria can a hotelier distinguish the "smart" seasonal offers that enhance competitiveness from those that ultimately lead to price erosion?
I have the feeling that today the tools and methods are available for a hotelier to control both offers and room availability to a degree that will hardly be at the mercy of the specter of "price erosion".
It is certainly a fact that competition, mainly from other destinations, is at times relentless and as the market functions as a communicating vessel, there is always the risk that there will be some "erosion" in prices from time to time and this is where a strong Brand, not only of the hotel unit but of the destination in general, will be able to logically resist.
Which Christmas and New Year's Eve promotion strategies do you consider most effective in enhancing the hospitality experience and driving strong occupancy without pressure on profit margins?
The best strategy is to create a strong Brand that is consistent with this pricing policy in order to maximise the price-quality ratio.
The offers that present the greatest benefit are usually the ones with the greatest success. As consumers, we are all sometimes fascinated by the size of an offer without always analysing the final price.
When you have to manage a product/service in a dynamic environment where prices are free to go up and down and which has an "absolute" expiration date like a hotel room or an airline seat, there is always a correlation between price and occupancy and the goal is to maximise performance.
How effective were Black Friday-style discounts for hotels, and to what extent do you believe they enhance or undermine the long-term value of a hospitality brand?
Demand is intertwined and a derivative of price, and offers certainly have an effect.
In general, I don't think that price determines the Brand. It usually reflects the quality of the product/service, but the Brand itself determines the product and essentially refers to how consumers perceive and evaluate the product, service or even the destination.
Do you perceive a difference between the behaviour of Cypriot and foreign travellers towards seasonal offers and what international trends do you believe are now shaping the way travellers respond to them?
I can't say that we see noticeable differences in the behaviours of foreign and Cypriot travellers in relation to seasonal offers.
Technology has enabled and transformed the distribution of the tourism product into an extremely dynamic environment, resulting in travellers having a wealth of information and choices, which at the same time often change significantly from day to day or hour to hour.
(Source: Xenodochos)
