THE CYPRUS Tourism Organisation (CTO) said yesterday Paphos had failed to learn the lessons of Limassol, repeating road planning mistakes and causing misery to tourists.
Phili Katsouris, Director of Tourism at the CTO, admitted Paphos was now going through the same roadwork mayhem as Limassol had last year. And just to pile on the misery, Onisitos Kargotis, General manager of Kissos Hotel in Paphos, said he had received “a huge number of complaints from guests about the construction of a new hotel at the Tomb of the Kings site.”
A combination of road works due to the Sewage Board programme and construction work at the site of the Tomb of the Kings have had a negative impact on visitors to the area at a time when tourism is still suffering the after-effects of the events of September 11.
For Kargotis, it is a daily problem. “Every morning, guests come down and ask to change their room.” The noise, dust and unsightliness of the work has forced guests to forgo the privilege of a view of the tomb in favour of quieter rooms on the other side of the hotel. Guests usually pay extra for the view of the ancient site, but rooms on the other side of the hotel are now full and guests wishing to be re-located away from the side facing the works are being disappointed.
The construction of the new seafront hotel has led to the local beach being used as a dumping ground for the mountain of waste from building work. Yesterday, concerned officials from the CTO sent an investigator to the site and were assured by construction officials that the waste would be removed “within days.”
The problems in Paphos has been exaggerated by the programme of road works through the city, carried out by the sewage board, which has led to increased noise and congestion on other roads and closure of the main road to the ancient site. On top of that, they have directly affected hotels in the Rania area, where the road has also been cut off.
Less affected are the hotels on the Danae Road, where one lane is in use. A spokesperson for the Theofano Hotel confirmed that guest numbers were lower than this time last year.
And with the cumulative effects of September 11 affecting tourism and air travel worldwide, the current situation is the last thing hoteliers need.
Katsouris of the CTO has been assured that hotel construction work will be finished by the end of May, and that most of the road works will be complete by the end of the month. However, other sources have suggested that work in the Kato Paphos area will continue until mid-July.
Haralambos Karaolis, Executive Engineer for the Municipality, confirmed that the building permit for the hotel had been granted over a year ago but that no conditions were in place to create a time frame in which work should be carried out.
George Karayanis, Executive engineer at the sewage board in Paphos, stated that the contract for road works around the tourist sites, namely the Tomb of the Kings area, was scheduled to finish by April 15, but admitted that “an extension of one or two weeks may be granted if required in order to finish the work.”
Karayanis also confirmed that no further road works would be permitted in designated tourist areas until after October 15 but that a separate contract had been drawn up for work in other areas that would carry on until mid-July.
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