This year one of the best ever for tourism, Koumis says

This year has been a very successful tourism year, with October 2024 being recorded as the best October ever for tourism, with an increase in arrivals of over 26% over a two-year horizon, Deputy Minister of Tourism Kostas Koumis has said.

He was speaking at the annual General Assembly of the Association of Cyprus Travel and Tourism Agents (ACTTA) on 3 December.

In his address, the Deputy Minister said that the dynamic of the country's tourism is reflected through the results to date in both tourist arrivals and tourism revenues, as according to the latest available statistics up to October, an increase of 4.6% was recorded in arrivals compared to the same period last year and an increase of 26.7% over a two-year horizon, while in terms of tourism revenue, the first nine months of the year recorded an increase of 4.9% compared to the previous year, and an increase of 31.1% over a two-year horizon.

"So you can see that 2024 is admittedly a successful tourism year," he said, while expressing optimism that next year, excluding an unforeseen event, will be an equally good tourism year.

Koumis said that the government attaches great importance to further developing tourism in the country, and for this reason it was decided to increase the budget of the Deputy Ministry of Tourism.

Referring to actions for tourism, he referred to the Ministry of Labour's “training plan for hotel workers in partial or total suspension of operations", which he personally considers to be one of the keys to November 2025. 

He added that in this direction are also the plans of the Deputy Ministry of Tourism, which aim to revive the Cypriot countryside and mountainous areas, to strengthen special forms of tourism and to further enhance the comparative advantages of our country.

Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Stavros Stavrou said in his speech that this year's conference is taking place during an excellent year for tourism, with record performance in both arrivals and revenues, despite challenges from the Russian market and the situation in Israel.

He noted that Cyprus had managed to make up for these losses and achieve what was admittedly an excellent year, thanks to the coordinated efforts of the Deputy Ministry of Tourism and all stakeholders, including the Association of Tourism Agents.

He added that the main issue for inbound tourism that concerns everyone is that of seasonality, noting that it is not possible that a country with 300 days of sunshine cannot attract tourists throughout the year.

Furthermore, he said that Cyprus' connectivity with new markets is of particular importance and expressed the view that despite the noticeable progress there can be even more connections with other countries.

The President of the Tourism Agents Association Haris Papacharalambous said for his part that 2024 was extremely good for both inbound and outbound tourism.

He said that in 2023 there were some small markets in inbound tourism that grew and almost completely filled the gap left by the Russian market, resulting in a better dispersion of markets.

He noted that the recent survey conducted by the association showed that almost 70% of tourists who came to the island for leisure purposes in 2023 came through travel agencies, meaning that they had contact in one way or another with a foreign tour operator, represented in Cyprus by inbound tourism travel agencies.

Papacharalambous also referred to some “fundamental but ongoing weaknesses" in the tourism industry, namely concerning connectivity, operational costs, lack of qualified staff, seasonality and unfair competition from the occupied territories.

(Source: CNA)