Ayia Napa, Protaras hoteliers bracing for bleak autumn

Hoteliers in Ayia Napa and Protaras, already reeling from the pandemic, anticipate even tougher days ahead after changes in the classification of countries as regards coronavirus has led countries such as Austria and Switzerland to be moved to Group B.

Tourist arrivals from Group B countries must show they have tested negative for coronavirus to enter Cyprus. Only arrivals from a shrinking list of Group A countries can travel to Cyprus without a test.

September and October would normally be important months for the tourism sector, attracting higher income visitors. But the coronavirus pandemic, compounded by the changing classification of countries to reflect the epidemiological situation in tourist generating countries, has sent the sector into a tailspin.

Rather than new markets opening, they are closing, President of the Famagusta branch of the Cyprus Hotels Association Doros Takkas told Politis newspaper.

He said that the area had managed to attract some arrivals from Austria and Switzerland in recent months, but both countries were recently relegated to Group B.

New additions to Group A countries such as New Zealand and South Korea do little to boost tourism.

The only positive development is Sweden being promoted from Group C (from which only Cypriots and residents are allowed in) to Group B, but it remains to be seen how Swedish travellers will react to the change, he said.

Barring significant developments, Takkas anticipates that hotels that have opened in the area will close by mid-September as local tourists return home after their August break.

Asked his projections for 2021, Takkas said that everything will revolve around a vaccine for coronavirus.

“If by then we have a vaccine then we will be back in business. I don’t want to even think about the scenario that we do not have a vaccine before the next tourism season. I can’t think of a second catastrophic year for our tourism,” he told Politis.

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.