Tourism sector success cannot be guaranteed, warns Cypriot minister
Cyprus tourism arrivals fell by 5.6 per cent in the first nine months of 2026 compared with the previous year, recovering from a much sharper decline earlier in the year, Deputy Minister of Tourism Kostas Koumis said on Friday as he presented the department’s €59.4 million budget for 2027.
Around 62 per cent of the proposed budget will fund destination promotion and the enrichment of the tourism product, including promotional activities, participation in tourism fairs and incentive schemes.
Presenting the budget before the House finance committee, Koumis said the sector had faced an extremely difficult time in 2026 because of external factors, with some describing the period as the most difficult for the industry in decades.
“2026 will undoubtedly remain in the history and memory of those working in the sector as a year during which our country’s tourism industry was called upon to face an unprecedented crisis as a result of external factors,” he said.
During March and April, Cyprus recorded tens of thousands of cancellations, while the pace of bookings slowed considerably.
There were also periods when bookings effectively froze altogether, both for the immediate travel period and for the remainder of the year, Koumis said.
The government introduced measures in response to the disruption, and the deputy minister briefed MPs on those interventions as well as the sector’s subsequent performance.
Visitor arrivals have recovered substantially from the decline recorded during the first four months of the year, when the annual decrease stood at 17.9 per cent.
For the first nine months of 2026, arrivals were down by just 5.6 per cent compared with the same period in 2025.
However, they remained 4.1 per cent higher than in the first nine months of 2024 and 8.5 per cent above the corresponding period in 2023.
“This indicates that the tourism sector has entered a recovery phase,” Koumis said, while acknowledging that further efforts would be required to restore demand in some markets.
He also highlighted September’s performance, describing it as the best September on record for tourist arrivals in Cyprus.
Tourism revenue figures, which were available from the Cyprus Statistical Service up to July, showed a decline of 7 per cent during the first seven months of 2026 compared with the same period last year.
Despite that decrease, revenues were 9.2 per cent higher than in the corresponding period of 2024 and 13.8 per cent above the level recorded in 2023.
Koumis said the full-year outcome would depend on how the remaining months performed.
If tourism revenue followed a similar pattern to that of 2025 during the rest of the year, the annual decline was expected to be limited to between 3 and 4 per cent.
“Under the circumstances, this would be a very satisfactory performance,” he said.
The deputy minister stressed that the industry’s performance should not be taken for granted, pointing to the difficulties experienced during 2026 as evidence of the sector’s exposure to external developments.
“I consider it very important to underline that success in tourism can never be taken for granted,” he said.
“This was also demonstrated this year,” he added.
Looking ahead, Koumis said the government would continue working to ensure tourism generated benefits for the national economy, tourism businesses and communities across Cyprus.
“We are continuing with the aim of ensuring that tourism continues in 2027 to generate benefits for our country’s economy, tourism businesses and, certainly, local communities,” he said.
The proposed €59.4 million budget places destination promotion and the development of Cyprus’ tourism offering at the centre of the department’s spending plans for 2027, as the sector seeks to consolidate its recovery following a year marked by significant disruption.