George Tofinis: We will have a very good season with increased occupancy, the hotels are overbooked for Kataklysmos

The district of Free Famagusta is experiencing a very good tourist season, which could even surpass last year's, with occupancy rates already at very high levels and the month of May closing on a fairly good and positive note, even though the first two weeks were somewhat slow.

In fact, Ayia Napa occupancy is currently almost full, while the indications for the coming months are quite promising, with hotel occupancy rates expected to reach 95% to 98% in July and August.

Speaking to InBusinessNews, and asked what messages are being received about tourism in the district, the President of the Famagusta Tourism Development and Promotion Company (ETAP), George Tofinis, said that "things are going very well."

"Although bookings were high at the beginning, they are now starting to balance out a bit and moving to the same levels as last year, which, again, were very good," he added.

Reservations

According to Tofinis, "in terms of reservations in general, our region is around 10% to 15% higher than last year, which indicates that we will have a very good season with increased occupancy."

"Some hotels that had high occupancy last year have no room to further increase their occupancy," he explained.

Asked to comment on hotel occupancy rates, the President of ETAP Famagusta said that “we had a significant increase in occupancy rates in April due to Easter.” The first two weeks of May, he continued, were a little behind, but now, occupancy rates are at very good levels.

"At the moment, Ayia Napa is almost full, with occupancy rates reaching and/or exceeding 85% to 90%. We are talking about a very high occupancy rate for the month of May. Overall, however, for the month, occupancy rates, because - as I mentioned - the first two weeks were at a lower - range from 65% to 70%, which is also a fairly good and high percentage," he added.

At the same time, Tofinis, after recalling that May has always been one of the good months of the tourist season during the Russian market, emphasised that "the fact that we managed to record quite high occupancy rates today shows that with intensive and arduous efforts we managed not only to cover, but also to surpass the gap created after the loss of the Russian market, now attracting many markets, mainly from former Eastern countries such as Hungary, Poland, the Baltic countries, etc."

Hotels fully-booked for Kataklysmos

Regarding the three-day Kataklysmos holiday, which this year falls on Saturday, Sunday and Monday, 7, 8 and 9 June, and the indications for the month of June, he said that "based on the indications we have, June will be another very good month for tourism. Kataklysmos is full and the hotels are already fully booked, and it is difficult to find free rooms today."

"As we approach the peak summer months - July and August - it will be even more difficult to find rooms, due to the fact that hotels will be overcrowded," he indicated.

"Certainly, in August it will be very difficult for someone to find a hotel for a one or two-night stay. You will have to book a stay of four nights or more for a hotel to be able to provide a room," he further emphasised.

It is noted that, as the President of ETAP Famagusta explained to InBusinessNews, "both July and August still have availability, since reservations are currently around 70%, a percentage that, as we approach these months, will continuously increase to fluctuate at last year's or even higher levels, where occupancy rates reached 95% to 98%."

"The messages are quite encouraging and show that, unless something unexpected occurs, we will have a very good tourist season, which if not at higher levels compared to last year, will at least be at the same levels as last year, which was also a very good season," Tofinis concluded.

(Source: InBusinessNews)