After a record-breaking year in 2024, extending the tourist season, enriching the tourist product and developing new markets are the goals for 2025, deputy minister of tourism Costas Koumis said on Sunday.

He said the ultimate goal of extending the tourist season is to “gradually lead us towards year-round tourism”.

Although 2024 saw records in terms of arrivals and revenue generated, Koumis said records were never an end in themselves. “The goal for 2024 was for the country’s tourism community to be happy, satisfied with the results.

“At the same time, as a state, we seek high results from tourism, tourism is one of the most important pillars of the Cypriot economy and we hope for revenues from it,” he told the Cyprus News Agency.

He said that October was a month almost as successful as those in the summer and that several tour operators had extended their programmes until at least mid November showed that “we are moving in the right direction”.

October and November and December 2024 were all individually the most successful of those months in the history of the country’s tourism.

As for starting the season earlier in 2025, he said “it is easier to work with the last months of the year than with March and April,” as these months are influenced by the Easter period.

Foe winter tourism attention has been paid to attracting those from colder climes, with intense online advertising. “The results so far vindicate us. If we compare last winter with the previous one, we had an increase of seven per cent, even though we lost the Israeli market,”.

But as Cyprus is a mature destination, receiving tourists from more than 30 countries, “when we talk about new markets, we are talking about markets where we don’t have large numbers and with which we don’t have direct air connections – the US market, the China market and the Central Asian countries”.

Online advertising has targeted the east coast of America. “Arrivals from the US are low, there is a lot of work to be done and the goal is long-term,” he said. The same is true for the Chinese market, where contacts have started.

“I do not expect that in 2025 we will see surprising results from these markets. What we are aiming for is a gradual increase in demand. Big markets need both big investments and time,” Koumis said. “We have to be realistic. Tourism operates on the basis of realism, not wishful thinking. At the moment the demand recorded for our country from these markets is low, hence no company proceeds to direct flights. That’s why we’re working to increase demand. To win the coveted air connection in the long run.”

Meanwhile, work is ongoing to expand the tourism product from the beaches. “We want to see inland destinations that have been disadvantaged for years, in the sense that they receive fewer visits, grow. If this happens we will gain more visitors, not only inland, but also during the winter season”.