HOTELS are fully booked and flights are up 25 per cent as the tourism industry braces itself for a busy Easter.
Cyprus is a top destination from Britain, as bad weather and the lingering foot and mouth crisis persuade more UK residents than ever to head abroad for an Easter break.
And with the Western and Orthodox Easters falling on the same day this year, hotels are under extra pressure from mainland Greek and local tourists converging on resorts for a weekend away.
The director-general of the Hoteliers’ Association, Zacharias Ioannides, said that some hotels in the mid to luxury range were fully booked.
“Hotel occupancy levels are in a very good shape due to the popularity of Cyprus as an attractive destination for Europeans. This is a very positive development compared to last year, but the actual percentage difference is very difficult to establish at the moment,” he told the Cyprus Mail.
British airports are ready to process some 1.5 million passengers jetting off for a break in the sun.
Cyprus, Tunisia, Majorca, Ibiza and mainland Spain have been named as top Mediterranean attractions, alongside Florida and the Caribbean for long-haul travellers. Of those heading to Cyprus, Paphos pulls in the largest number of Britons.
“Year on year, the number of British holidaymakers travelling abroad has been on the increase, with Easter this year being no exception,” said Steven Bath, president of the Association of British Travel Agents.
More than 19,000 UK nationals flew into Cyprus in April 2000. Neither the Cyprus Tourism Organisation (CTO) nor the Hoteliers’ Association were able to estimate the numbers expected this month, but flight arrivals from Europe have increased by 25 per cent this year.
The general manager of Larnaca Airport, Andreas Soshilos, said the number of tourists coming from all over Europe was on the increase.
“If there are 13 flights a day, multiplied by 15 days from last weekend to the next, multiplied by the average number of seats, 130, you get an idea about how many we’re expecting – 25,350,” he said.
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.
