The Managing Director of St Raphael Resort and Marina, Farah Shammas, reveals the renovation and expansion plans that the resort is expected to undergo and highlights that the company is currently investing over €1 million to start off the season. This will include a new outdoor restaurant, renovated main evening restaurant, expanded and luxurious Captain’s Terrace with breathtaking views over the Marina, upgrades to its entertainment programme and areas for all ages to enjoy, renovated and new lobby area, suites and marina front sea view rooms plus much more in plan.
Furthermore, Shammas explains that “after lengthy discussions with the Cyprus government, we have been promised that all licensing will be granted as soon as possible and are moving forward with the marina and restaurants as fully operational from now on”, adding that “after all the difficulties we have faced over the past couple of years, we are confident of a promising future in Cyprus and look forward to continuing our re-investment in this country for many years to come with the support of the government”.
As regards the decision to come to Cyprus, Shammas mentions that the whole project was the dream of her grandfather, Shukri Hanna Shammas, in the late 70s. It finally came to fruition in the early 80s when an agreement was reached with the government of Cyprus which granted permission for the Marina, the first and largest privately owned marina in the Eastern Mediterranean at the time. “My father, a civil engineer by profession, built and saw the project fulfilled when the Marina opened in 1986 and the hotel resort in 1987. By this time, we had made an agreement to have a management contract with the Sheraton Group”, she says.
Assessing the year 2016, the Managing Director of St Raphael Resort, explains that last year was very successful for Cyprus as a whole. “Outgoing Tourism from many markets was up and some of our main competitors were out of the playing field. Our Resort had a very good year, offering our 5 star Deluxe All Inclusive package which is very much in demand, and I believe that we will have another successful year in 2017”, Shammas stresses.
Regarding expectations for the upcoming tourist season she points out that many groups, both in leisure and business, are planning to come to Cyprus as well as many sports teams, and hence the winter and shoulder seasons look promising.
“If we can manage to have a good winter season, then I believe 2017 could be another record year since the summer season looks very positive”, Shammas says and adds, “Cyprus is very volatile to external factors, but we always hope for the best and aim to offer the highest standards possible to attract tourism to our lovely island.”
