Cyprus tourism recovery gathers pace after difficult spring

Cyprus tourism continued to show resilience and momentum in the first half of 2026, despite disruption caused by developments in the Middle East and turbulence in air transport during March and April, government spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis said on Thursday.

Speaking to media representatives at the Presidential Palace, Letymbiotis compared this year’s performance with 2024, which had been the best year in the history of Cypriot tourism at the time, before 2025 set a new record.

Despite the exceptional circumstances affecting two critical months of 2026, tourist arrivals during the first half of the year remained slightly higher than in the corresponding period of 2024, while tourism revenue increased by 7.5 per cent.

“From May onwards, the picture has been steadily improving and the gap from the 2025 record has been narrowing significantly,” Letymbiotis said.

“The picture in June is particularly characteristic. Arrivals reached 489,965, just 1.7 per cent lower than in June 2025, while revenue reached €423.1 million and was 0.2 per cent higher,” he added.

Letymbiotis stated that the figures showed that the performance of tourism was also being determined by the quality of Cyprus’ tourism offering, greater value per visit and the sector’s ability to generate a strong economic footprint.

He attributed the performance to cooperation between the state and private sector, as well as a consistent strategy focused on expanding markets, strengthening air connectivity, extending the tourism season and continuously upgrading the experience offered by Cyprus.

“The gap from the 2025 record is narrowing month by month, while performance remains higher than in 2024, which until then had been a year of historic record,” Letymbiotis said.

He added the performance of recent months confirmed that Cypriot tourism had strong foundations and significant resilience, despite the challenges experienced earlier in the year.

“We are continuing with the aim of strengthening this positive course even further until the end of the year, with well-founded optimism that our tourism will remain at particularly high levels,” Letymbiotis concluded.