Statistical Service data regarding tourism revenue for the month of May, as well as for the first five months of the year, confirm that tourism is back on a “stable trajectory,” Deputy Minister of Tourism, Kostas Koumis said.

In a written statement sent to the Cyprus News Agency (CNA), the Deputy Minister noted that the 4.8% decline in tourism revenue compared with 2025 “is certainly not excessive,” while compared with 2024, revenue has increased by 14.4%.

According to the Deputy Minister, the data confirm that “the tourism sector is now unquestionably on a stable path and demonstrates that the coordinated and targeted actions of the Government, always in cooperation with our country’s tourism industry, have had a positive impact on the sector.”

Regarding the results for the first five months of the year, he said that the overall revenue picture improved by 7.4 percentage points compared with the first four months, which, according to Koumis, also reflects and confirms the sector’s gradual and now well-established recovery.

Commenting on the 16.5% decline in revenue during the first five months compared with the previous year, he expressed the view that this percentage would continue to decrease over time. As an indication, he noted that last month the decline stood at 23.9%, while comparing the first five months of 2026 with the same period in 2024, revenue recorded an increase of 6.3%.

Koumis stressed that the Government’s priority was to preserve the country’s positive reputation by investing in every aspect of safety and security. The Ministry of Tourism’s main objective, he added, was to maintain airline schedules and organized travel programmes to Cyprus while minimizing any losses. He added that “the year is developing quite well, all things considered, and as the Ministry of Tourism we are working intensively to ensure that the results of the second half of the year are even better.”

The Deputy Minister also noted that hotel occupancy rates of around 85% “cannot be considered low,” adding that comparisons should not be made solely with 2025, which was a record-breaking year for Cyprus tourism. He pointed out that average occupancy in a number of competing destinations during July is around 85%: “In Mallorca, for example, it is 80%–88%, in Crete 85%–89%, in Turkey 75%–90%, and in Egypt around 80%, among others.”

He further noted that Cyprus recorded the largest increase in overnight stays across the European Union when comparing 2024 with 2023, with a rise of 14.5%.

Finally, regarding the outlook for autumn, he said he is “quite optimistic,” as there is every prospect that the second half of 2026 will produce better results than the first. “The messages we are receiving from our strategic partners abroad are exclusively positive,” he concluded.

CNA/MCH/AGK/2026

ENDS, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY

Source: Parikiaki.com