Filenews 24 August 2022 - by Natasha Christoforou
Days reminiscent of the glamour of 2019 live in the last three weeks of Ayia Napa and Protaras, which are full of people. Despite the fact that only part of the loss of the Russian market from abroad was covered, the "flood" of the region by locals gave a great breather to many tourism businesses, which see their turnover increase, after two disastrous years due to the pandemic.
The occupancy of the hotels that have opened, exceeds 80% with several being overcrowded until the end of August. As the officer of the Famagusta Tourism Development and Promotion Company (ETAP), Lakis Avraamides, told "F", the demand in August was great for hotels, apartments and villas. "The occupancy rates due to the locals are high. Many Cypriots chose our area for holidays this year. This helped a lot both the restaurants and the similar businesses, which worked a lot after two years."
Although before 2019, the majority of local holidaymakers chose one-day excursions to the area, with the exception of those who own holiday homes, due to the availability of accommodation and offers during the pandemic, their number increased significantly. This is a "market" in which the tourist operators of the region invest, since it is proven to support the entire range of tourism businesses.
An additional gain for Ayia Napa and Protaras, in addition to the increase in arrivals from traditional markets, is this year the French and the Poles. According to Mr. Avraamides, the increase from these markets was large. "We have had other years of arrivals from these countries, but not so many. Our goal is to build on these markets next year as well. Despite the increase, however, only a percentage of the loss of the Russians was covered. It will take time to cover this market."
Arrivals from Russians, meanwhile, remain very low after the start of flights from Moscow to Larnaca, via the Armenian capital Yerevan.
Now all efforts in the free area of Famagusta, are focused on the extension of the tourist season until November. This is not an easy task, since there is a sharp decline in bookings for the next month.
"We have an advertising campaign that covers both Cyprus and abroad and we hope to attract tourists. The campaign "runs" in Britain, Scandinavia, Germany, France, Poland and Romania and will last until October. In addition, there is radio advertising for Cypriots".
The tourist agencies of the region have also placed a lot in the plans of the Deputy Ministry of Tourism for subsidized holidays of locals, which are expected to be announced next month.
