Hotel occupancy rates ‘to reach 95%’

Hotel occupancy rates in Cyprus are expected to reach as much as 95 per cent in August, hoteliers association (Pasyxe) president Thanos Michaelides said on Saturday.

Speaking to the Cyprus News Agency (CNA), Michaelides said the current tourist season is showing “good signs”.

But he said “international markets are changing and our strategies must be adapted”.

He added that the British market will remain the most important tourist market in Cyprus, but that “it is equally important not to neglect new markets”.

Additionally, he said “efforts must be made to attract tourists with a better-quality profile”, adding “we are not only interested in the money they will leave in our country, but also the respect they will show to the environment and our country”.

To this end, he said a tourist destination like Cyprus should have “a wide range of five-star, four-star, and three-star hotel units”.

Having only taken over the position earlier this summer, he promised to “resolve the many and long-standing problems which concern and will continue to concern the association, in good cooperation with all government departments which are related to tourism”.