TOURIST bookings from the UK for Easter are up 90 per cent over the holiday period last year, according to the latest statistics.
Many of the island’s hotels also report being almost fully booked for Easter and many are not advertising weekend breaks because they have no available capacity.
A spokesman for the Cyprus Tourism Organisation (CTO) in London agreed that the 90 per cent figure appeared quite high but said it should translate into a realistic increase in Easter visitors of between 50-60 per cent compared to last year.
"Some specialist operators are taking advantage of the two Easters to issue package deals," the spokesman said. The Orthodox Easter falls on the Sunday following the Catholic and Protestant holiday, one which is this weekend.
Reports in the British press yesterday said the weather in the UK this month has been so miserable that even more people are heading abroad to escape and Cyprus is one of the top destinations.
The CTO spokesman said the increase is also down to the general popularity of Cyprus for Britons this year and the favourable exchange rate with the pound sterling. He also said many people did not go away for the millennium as predicted because of the high prices and were doing so now instead.
All this should be coupled with the fact that Cyprus has always been a traditional destination for Easter breaks, the spokesman said. "Hotels should expect to be full," he added.
His words were confirmed by Le Meridien General Manager John Wood who told the Cyprus Mail there is a heavy demand for Cyprus at the moment. "But bookings were going well before," he said.
Wood said Easter bookings last year were not as high because the holiday was at a different time, the beginning of the month rather than the end. "The three weeks difference has obviously had an effect, probably because the weather is more sure," he said.
Wood reported a 95 per cent occupancy for Easter this year compared to 70 per cent for the same time last year. He estimated that overall bookings should increase around 45 per cent.
Lefkos Phylactides, senior marketing official at the CTO said Cyprus features very high on the Easter breaks list. "The UK market in general is doing extremely well for us this year. We have had a big demand since the launch of UK brochures several months ago," he said.
He said that latest UK statistics show an increase in the overall UK market of seven per cent for summer 2000. "But Cyprus is up 31 per cent over last year and last year was a record year," he said. "One has to bear in mind that Cyprus is an early booking destination and a lot of people would have rushed to book in case there would not be any vacancies later on".
So while general bookings are up 30 per cent this will likely translate into a 15 per cent increase in tourists or an additional 120,000 tourists, Phylactides said.
Hoteliers Association director general Zacharias Ioannides said Easter in Cyprus has always been a traditional choice for Britons. "We have a good and positive start to the summer season, possibly because of Cyprus gaining popularity, especially from the UK," he said. "Easter in Cyprus is one of the popular choices".
Ioannides added that Cyprus is doing well in general this year especially from the UK. He also said that Nicosia hotels are enjoying a boom due to an increase in conference tourism and international seminars.
