Deputy Minister: Record year expected for tourism revenue

Tourism revenue has increased 25% in 2023 compared to the previous year, with the possibility of a new record in revenue clearly visible, Deputy Minister of Tourism Kostas Koumis said.

He was speaking after the Board of Directors of the Cyprus Hotel Association (CHA) had a meeting with President Nikos Christodoulides, in the Presidential Palace on Monday.

The Deputy Minister of Tourism was present at the meeting along with Minister of Labour and Social Insurance Yiannis Panayiotou, as the main topic of the meeting was the difficulty of finding staff in the hotel industry.

After the meeting, the Deputy Minister said that this was the second meeting in a period of two months with CHA. He noted that during the meeting the issues of human resources, air connectivity of Cyprus and efforts to lengthen the tourist season were discussed.

Koumis said that 2023 was a "very good year", noting that arrivals increased by 21%, compared to 2022. At the same time, he highlighted that there is an important increase of 25% in revenue. "It seems we will have a new record in revenue, which is very important for the economy of our country", he noted.

On his part, CHA Chairman, Thanos Michaelides described the meeting as "fruitful". He reiterated that the most important problem the industry faces is a lack of human resources. "It's a problem faced by all our competing Mediterranean destinations. Considering the positive signals from the markets for 2024, there is an urgent need to provide solutions in time," he said, noting that if there is a delay, "there is a possibility that we will not be able to find enough staff to meet our needs because they will have already been absorbed by competing destinations."

Regarding hotel occupancy rates during the Christmas holiday season, Michaelides said that now they are around 40% and on Christmas week they will perhaps rise to 50%.