Four months after the shock of Thomas Cook’s bankruptcy and the impact on Cyprus seems to be less severe than initially feared.
In fact, the hotel industry is more or less back to normal and this year’s season which opens in two to three months finds hotels already accepting early-bird summer bookings, Phileletheros reports.
This year’s overall picture is different, however, since travel organizers are all trying to lure Thomas Cook’s travellers. That is, tourists who had consistently chosen Cyprus for their holidays.
TUI is currently trying to increase its share to 11% and Jet2holidays appears to be recording a steady upward trend in Cyprus. Easyjet is also trying to get a piece of the pie this year, while online platforms (On the beach, Love holidays) appear to be gaining momentum.
Despite initial fears of a painfall repercussions on the economy and tourism-related businesses, this appears to be under control. Thomas Cook’s vacuum has been filled by other tour operators, and proof is the fact that no request for support or compensation was tabled before the Deputy Ministry of Tourism, informed sources said.
One source also said that everything is back to normal, despite the fact that three months of accrued expenses vanished. Hoteliers took all steps possible to limit losses.
Reports at the time referred to losses of €50 million related to unpaid invoices for the months of July, August and September. The final loss was €30m due to the Scandinavian subsidiary of Thomas Cook paying hoteliers in Protaras and Ayia Napa.
At district level, the bankruptcy impact was stronger on Paphos hotels which were mostly affiliated with the British giant tourist operator.
Thomas Cook was closely associated with five hotels in Cyprus, one in Ayia Napa and four in Paphos. These hotels will continue operating this year without bearing the brand name of the collapsed operator.
Over the years, Thomas Cook had been one of the most important and reliable partner of the Mediterranean island’s tourism industry. Its airlines had linked Britain, Germany and Scandinavia to both Larnaca and Paphos.
By Demetra Landou
Read more:
https://in-cyprus.com/tour-operators-take-a-piece-of-thomas-cook-pie/
