Paphos hotel occupancy rebounds to 90 per cent for peak August period

Hotel occupancy in the Paphos district is expected to reach between 85 and 90 per cent in August, according to Paphos hoteliers association president Evripides Loizides, who nevertheless warned that falling room prices and weaker autumn bookings continued to weigh on the sector.

Speaking to the Cyprus News Agency (CNA), Loizides said demand would be particularly strong around the August 15 holiday, traditionally one of the busiest periods of the summer for the district’s hotels, tourist accommodation and restaurants.

Although August remained one of the most important months for Paphos tourism, he expressed cautious optimism about its performance, pointing to the growing influence of last-minute reservations.

“Consumers are delaying decisions about their holidays and looking for the best possible price,” Loizides said, explaining that higher living costs and financial pressure were prompting travellers to make reservations shortly before departure.

The stronger August outlook follows a more difficult July, when hotel occupancy remained around 10 per cent below July 2025, despite positive tourist traffic.

Loizides described the figure as an improvement compared with May and June, when losses had reached approximately 15 per cent year on year, causing considerable concern within the hotel industry.

In his assessment, the July performance showed that the Paphos tourism market had gradually begun to recover, although it had not yet returned to last year’s levels. The August 15 period was therefore expected to provide an important boost for hotel businesses following several months of weaker occupancy and pressure on prices.

However, the outlook becomes less encouraging after the summer peak. Loizides estimated that occupancy for September currently stood at between 75 and 80 per cent, about 15 per cent lower than last year.

“So far, there are no substantial indications of a significant reversal,” Loizides said, adding that conditions were expected to become even more difficult in October.

The weaker autumn outlook was a particular concern for tourism professionals, Loizides explained, as extending the season beyond the traditional summer months remained a long-standing objective for Cyprus.

More troubling for hotel businesses, however, was the decline in prices. According to Loizides, room prices had fallen by more than 20 per cent, directly affecting revenues and placing additional pressure on the viability of businesses.

“The biggest blow to hotel businesses is not found exclusively in the number of visitors,” Loizides said, stressing that lower average room rates considerably reduced revenue even when occupancy remained relatively high.

Loizides also identified geopolitical instability as one of the factors affecting this year’s season. Part of the market appeared to have been lost because of the war, he said, as some potential visitors had opted for other destinations.

At the same time, the increased cost of living and broader economic pressure had changed travellers’ behaviour. Many were postponing their plans, comparing prices and making reservations much closer to their departure dates.

That trend, Loizides noted, made it increasingly difficult for hotels to forecast demand reliably for the coming months, particularly for September and October.

One positive development, however, has been the performance of the Israeli tourism market, where Loizides reported a significant increase in visitors to Paphos.

The rise had been supported by the large number of air connections between Cyprus and Israel, making access to the district easier. Should the trend continue until the end of the season, he estimated that Israel could become Paphos’ second-largest tourism market after the United Kingdom.

Such a development would be particularly important for Paphos, Loizides added, as it would strengthen the diversification of the foreign markets on which the district’s tourism industry depended.

Overall, he described the season as mixed. August occupancy was expected to approach 90 per cent, but weaker demand during previous months, the fall of more than 20 per cent in room prices and uncertainty surrounding September and October continued to create challenges for hoteliers.

According to Loizides, the strength of last-minute bookings, the performance of international markets and the ability to maintain demand after August would ultimately determine how the tourism season ended for Paphos.