Filenews 2 July 2025 - by Angelos Angelodimou
A significant percentage of tourist arrivals, which amounts to a not negligible percentage of 34%, does not translate into corresponding overnight stays in hotels, but is channelled either to the occupied territories or to licensed (airbnb) or unlicensed short-term rental accommodation.
This was emphasized yesterday by the president of PASYXE, Thanos Michaelides, in his speech, in the framework of the Annual General Assembly of the association.
As Mr. Michaelides noted, based on the above, it implies that thousands of arrivals at the airports of the Republic of Cyprus leave a small or even zero economic footprint, since they use our airports only to spend their holiday budget in the occupied territories. As a result, we, in this respect, bear the environmental burden, without any substantial benefit.
Then, the president of PASYXE assessed 2024 as positive, given that tourist arrivals set a record, exceeding 4 million, compared to 3.8 million in 2023 – an increase of 5.1%, while the positive ones include the increase in total tourism revenues, which amounted to €3.2 billion, compared to €3 billion in 2023 – an increase of 7.3%.
Germany, the big challenge
Recording the major challenges of the sector, Mr. Michaelides said that last year, we had pointed out as a major challenge the limited air connectivity, which affects Cyprus' access to most potential tourism markets.
A tangible example is last year's increase in arrivals from Poland, highlighting the positive impact of enhancing air connectivity. Specifically, in 2024 the available seats to and from Poland increased by 22%, resulting in a 23% increase in visitors. According to 2024 data, Poland was the third largest market with 337,000 arrivals, Israel was in second place with 425,000 arrivals, while the United Kingdom remained in first place with over 1.3 million arrivals.
Similarly, we should seek similar openings to other potential markets that can substantially contribute to improving the performance of our tourism. Such an example is Germany, Europe's largest market. According to official data, in 2023, 77% of the German population travelled at least once for holidays abroad, which corresponds to 50 million people, out of a total population of 83.28 million. It is worth noting that, in the United Kingdom, the corresponding percentage was only 42%, in a population of 68.35 million. According to 2024 data, Cyprus welcomed 228,000 tourists from Germany, which ranks it as the fourth largest tourism market for our country. These numbers correspond to only 6% of our total tourism.
Manpower
A major issue for the tourism industry remains human resources. In 2024, 49,592 people were directly employed. However, difficulties in finding suitable and sufficient human resources remain. One possible approach could be the example of Norway, where rapid tourism growth revealed serious gaps in skilled personnel, as young people avoided the relevant professions, considering them precarious or underpaid. Those in charge had to convince both young people and their parents that the industry offers prospects. They updated the promotional messages, showcasing leading personalities in the field and created modern education and training programs.
In addition, Norway, through the Integration Act, promotes the integration of employees aged 55–65 in the hotel industry, mainly in areas such as customer service and administrative positions. In this way, human resources are strengthened with experience and quality characteristics, while at the same time these people are offered the opportunity for a second career in a dynamically evolving field. Following the example of Norway, as PASYXE, said Mr. Michaelides, we have recently started a discussion on the utilization and creation of training programs in professions in the hotel industry, in cooperation with ADAD. The aim of this initiative is the reintegration of people aged 55–65, with all the positive consequences that their activation can bring for both the economy and society as a whole.
40% increase in revenue in April
Meanwhile, yesterday, Statistics announced the revenues from tourism for the month of April. According to them, tourism revenues in April amounted to €304.2 million, showing an increase of 39.9% compared to the corresponding month of the previous year (€217.4 million). For the period January – April 2025, tourism revenues are estimated at €582.5 million compared to €440.7 million in the corresponding period of 2024, recording an increase of 32.2%. Per capita tourist expenditure in April 2025 amounts to €726.42 compared to €651.69 in April 2024, recording an increase of 11.5%.
