Filenews 13 May 2022
Pafos continues to record the largest percentage of visitors to recreation centres with an occupancy of more than 60%, according to the president of the Federation of Leisure Center Owners Associations (OSIKA) Fytos Thrasyvoulou.
In his statements to the CNA, Mr. Thrasyvoulou said that Pafos holds the first place and last is Ayia Napa which records occupancy rates of 45%-50%. He expressed the hope that after May 15th and with the announcements and with the new flights and with the programs of the Deputy Ministry of Tourism, the movement will recover. He also called on all the owners of the recreation centres to get ready, considering that this year's tourist season will be very good.
He also said that as a Federation OSIKA focuses on serving its members, finding a workforce, either from third countries, or from refugees from Ukraine, or from Greece. Our goal, he continued, is the proper staffing of our businesses, in order to serve our customers. We want, he said, "to return to 2019, which was a record year by Cypriot standards".
When asked how OSIKA handles the difficulty of finding a workforce, Mr. Thrasyvoulou said that the Federation undertook with the Department of Labour to meet the needs of the sector while calling on their members to contact the Federation, in order to be properly and properly informed that they can secure potential from third countries. It is an issue that has been of concern to OSIKA for a long time, he said, adding that the way they manage it as a Federation in cooperation with the Department of Labour is "the best under the circumstances".
In relation to accuracy, Mr. Thrasyvoulou noted that several owners of the recreation centres have proceeded to the change of their price lists. He added that the excessive daily increases are not encouraging for the industry. According to him, the entrepreneurs of the sector should be very careful so that the increases made are realistic in relation to the purchasing power of consumers. Finally, he considered that a ceiling should be put in place to control this situation.
