Deputy Minister of Tourism Kostas Koumis did the right thing on Tuesday when he introduced a sense of perspective and reason to public discourse about the lower tourist figures in the last couple of months. While there is no doubt that tourist arrivals and hotel bookings have recorded a drop since the start of the US-Israel war on Iran at the beginning of March, the situation is not as bleak as the associations representing hotel owners have been claiming.

According to the latest figures, released by the Statistics Service, tourist arrivals in March and April 2026 had fallen by 30.7 per cent and 27.6 per cent respectively compared to last year. In the first four months of the year, the fall in arrivals was 17.9 per cent. There were very high expectations for this year as January and February recorded the highest ever number of arrivals, but the war changed everything for tourism and travel.

“It was absolutely expected that the developments of the last months would impact tourism traffic,” said Koumis after Tuesday’s council of ministers’ meeting. He also pointed out, correctly, that the figures should be viewed in context. Last year recorded the best ever tourism performance, in terms of arrivals and bookings, so the significantly lower figures this year are not the disaster some have contended. “The comparison is made against an extremely high base,” said the minister.

Apparently the figures for the first four months of the year are lowest since 2022. Although there has been a steady rise since then, the hotel industry was not in any trouble that year. Expectations may have been lower because of the pandemic, but hotels and tourist enterprises were not at any risk. Why would they be at any risk and requiring state assistance now, considering they did pretty well without it in 2022?

“We do not ignore the figures, but the figures do not justify great pessimism,” he said, stressing that data showed a “gradual recovery of tourism.” The decline was three percentage points lower in April. Koumis’ comments were a diplomatic response to hoteliers’ demands for more state assistance, in addition to the subsidising of hotel payrolls until the end of June. A representative of the hoteliers, in fact called on the government to appeal for support from the EU, on the grounds that Cyprus was the only European country affected to such a large degree in a key sector of its economy.

Whether the government can do this is another matter. What government must ensure, is that no more money from the taxpayer goes to hotels and tourist enterprises, because they are facing one difficult year after three years of constantly rising revenue. Koumis should resist the pressure of the hoteliers, as the measures already taken by the deputy ministry – maintaining air connectivity and strengthening relations with tour operators – are adequate.