Paphos hoteliers have still not decided when and which hotels to operate as they still do not have a full picture, the president of the Paphos Hotels Association Thanos Michaelides told CNA.
He said hoteliers wanted to reopen, but this “very big decision” had still not been taken. As the UK and Russia which are Paphos’ two main markets are not included in category 2 of the list of countries whose tourists can visit, it will be a slow start for Paphos’ tourism sector, Michaelides said.
And it will be several weeks before there are satisfactory occupancy, and until that happens hoteliers will just be piling up more losses, he added.
Michaelides was not in a position to say when and how many hotels would open, but expressed the hope that when there is more information regarding which airlines would be flying to Cyprus, hoteliers would have a better picture and be able to start promotional campaigns in promising markets.
“I hope we can open a range of hotels so that we can have three, four star, tourist villages and so on available on the market,” he said.
It was important to be able to offer consumers the choice so that tour operators can feature a range of hotels in their packages.
If hotels are able to open earlier rather than later, this will help build up occupancy.
Hoteliers are waiting for the health protocols so as to have definitive guidelines on the operation of hotels and be able to organise their staff accordingly.
He anticipated a bumpy start, with June being very difficult but did not rule out some hotels opening in June for the local market.
