There seems to be a small decrease in tourist bookings in Larnaca compared to last year, stated Marios Polyviou, President of the Larnaca Hoteliers' Association.

He added, "With the start of the summer season, there appears to be a slight decrease in bookings compared to last year. However, we cannot characterize the year as unsatisfactory. But based on the data from the previous year, we see a decrease, which we will see at the end of the season, as the booking map has changed, with many last-minute bookings."

Responding to a related question, Mr. Polyviou said, "The bankruptcy of the German tourism organization FTI has not affected bookings in the Larnaca province to a large extent because there were few bookings in our hotels. However, this bankruptcy is still a blow to tourism, especially from markets like Germany and Poland, where this particular tour operator specialized."

He also noted, "With the bankruptcy of FTI, we lose a partner that provided quality tourism to Larnaca, albeit to a lesser extent than other provinces."

Referring to the ongoing war in Ukraine, the President of the Larnaca Hoteliers' Association said, "This has essentially killed the flow of tourist arrivals, mainly from Russia, which was one of the main markets for Cyprus about three years ago. It is clear that with the absence of the Russian market, a piece is missing from the traditional visitors to Cyprus."

He added, "The new factor of this year's tourist season is that the Israeli market has also been affected, which last year had a huge momentum and a significant increase in arrivals, especially in Larnaca, and was perhaps the main market for the city. We hope that a solution will be found to the problem so that the war ends and the daily events we see in our neighboring country stop."

Asked whether he is optimistic about the rest of the tourist season in Larnaca, Marios Polyviou said, "It is clear that there are specific problems such as the war in Israel. There are also the Euro and Olympic Games this summer, which seem to attract quite a few people who will choose, instead of traditional vacations, to go to watch these two major sporting events taking place in Europe."

Furthermore, "The elections scheduled for July 4 in the UK seem to somewhat disrupt the flow of arrivals to Cyprus, the prolonged economic downturn in Europe and the UK, problems in aviation with some seat reductions, and the increase in air ticket prices, all seem to affect the flow of arrivals, and, as things stand, will not allow us to have a tourist season this year equal to last year's," he concluded.