Cyprus Mail 24 May 2020 - by Katy Turner
Israel and Germany will be important markets for Paphos once the tourism industry restarts, the resort’s hoteliers said on Sunday.
Of the list of countries that will be allowed to start flights to the island as of June 9, Germany is the most important market to which importance will be given with the intention of growing it, President of the Paphos Hotels Association Thanos Michaelides told the Cyprus News Agency (CNA).
He said there has already been a good response from Israel and interest in Paphos hotels.
Other countries on the list, such as Rumania, Bulgaria and Slovakia are only small markets and while efforts will be made to attract tourists the results are unlikely to be immediate, Michaelides said.
Two other strong possibilities are the markets of Austria and Switzerland, he said, in addition to the Scandinavian countries, which have always made Cyprus a popular choice, although heading more to Famagusta than Paphos.
Before hotels can open, they must have a full understanding of what support is available to them from the ministry of labor, he said.
It is impossible that all hotels in Paphos will open at the same time, he added, and those that do will have a very low occupancy, which is expected to rise as time goes on.
Hotels do not operate on a weekly basis but a monthly basis, Michaelides explained, adding that as a result those that reopen will have to continue to operate for a long time and therefore will have to undertake proper planning.
According to a decision of the Council of Ministers, hotels can reopen as of June 1.
