Paphos hotels at 35% capacity in March

Occupancy rates at Paphos district hotels are expected to reach 35% in March, according to the President of the Paphos Hotels Association, Thanos Michaelides.

Michaelides told CNA that bookings for the summer season are moving satisfactorily, considering the Ukraine war and the difficulties the UK economy faces.

He pointed out that the occupancy rate is expected to be at the same levels as last year, perhaps a little better, but without reaching the pre-COVID 2019 levels.

The UK is still Paphos’ main source of tourists, but other markets have also shown interest, such as Germany, Israel, Poland and France.

“Our goal is to continue to improve these markets to gain the lost ground…considering the Russian market is still out of the equation”.

During the Green Monday long weekend, Michaelides said there was a lot of interest from Cypriots for Paphos hotels due to the good weather.

Michaelides said hotels are still finding it hard to find staff which is an issue of concern because, as he said, the tourism industry cannot function without human resources.

He also said that hotels that closed for the winter season would gradually start resuming operations from the end of March.