Tourism bookings and spending down

AVERAGE tourism bookings and revenue are down compared to last year, according to yesterday’s Phileleftheros.

The average capacity for licensed hotels (all-star categories) was down to 34.6 per cent in the first quarter of this year, compared to 37.1 per cent the same time last year.

Tourist apartment bookings also dropped with apartments of all categories having an average capacity of 37.9 per cent for the first quarter of 2004, down from 38.5 per cent for the same period last year.

Top quality five-star hotels saw a drop in the first three months from 30.7 per cent last year to 28.4 per cent this year.

According to the report, tourism revenues also suffered a downturn. The average revenue in 2002 reached £423 per tourist for hoteliers. This fell to £404 in 2003, while the first five months of 2004 saw hoteliers drawing average revenues of £374 from every tourist’s visit.

The General Manager of the Association of Cyprus Tourist Enterprises (STEK) told the paper that he expected the drop in figures for tourist accommodation to continue in the second quarter of 2004. Fidias Karis said the second quarter would not cover the deficit created by operational costs superseding revenue in the first quarter. But he hoped the last two quarters would pick up to balance out the fall in tourist figures on the island.

Current figures would also have a negative effect on prices, making it harder to push prices down and fight profiteering, added Karis.

Around one third of all tourists end up in non-licensed tourist accommodation, he noted, adding that this figure was rising every year.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.