Although the picture in tourist flows, which are reduced compared to last year due to the war in the Middle East, has not been completely reversed, last-minute bookings in Larnaca give a boost to August. The losses remain, however, according to the president of PASYXE Larnaca, Marios Polyviou, may be smaller than in July. "July ended with a decrease of about 15% compared to last year. It started at the same pace and August, however, the situation seems better due to last-minute bookings. It shows that August may not be so bad. At the moment we have occupancy rates of 75%, while last year at the same time it was 90%."
Tourist arrivals were boosted by the increase in flights from Israel, which is Larnaca's number one market, while there is also a recovery of the English market this month, according to Mr. Polyviou. "The Germans and the Poles follow. Poland is developing into a very good market for both Larnaca and Cyprus in general, since in this situation there is an increase throughout Cyprus. In Larnaca it started in July and we are seeing an increase in the flow from Greece as well this month, which was down in previous months," he noted. He also clarified that at the moment no safe prediction can be made for the autumn months.
However, Larnaca's tourism operators are optimistic about 2027, due to the very important agreements signed with TUI UK and Jet2, which are the two largest tour operators in the United Kingdom. Expressing his satisfaction, Mr. Polyviou said that great efforts were made by PASYXE and ETAP Larnaca, so that the two companies included the destination in their program. "They signed 12 contracts each in Larnaca and it is very important because in recent years any arrivals we had from the United Kingdom were individual and not from an organized tour operator. The English market is the second largest in Larnaca at the moment. When the two largest tour operators sell Larnaca, it means that next year we will have a lot of flow from the United Kingdom, with all the positive consequences", indicated Mr. Polyviou.
A very important event for the tourist Larnaca is the completion of the main road network of the third phase of the Dhekelia road, along which the largest hotel units are located, which were hit due to the delays.
