Improved tourist flow expected in 2025, Hoteliers' Association President predicts

The messages for tourism in 2025 are positive, with a better flow of bookings compared to last year, according to the President of the Cyprus Hotel Association, Thanos Michaelides.

Speaking to the Cyprus News Agency (CNA), Michaelides said that observing the flow of bookings for 2025, it seems that there is interest in making reservations earlier, compared to what was seen during the same period in 2024.

In 2024, which was described as a good year, he said, there was a sluggish flow of bookings from Cyprus's main markets in the first half of the year. In the second half of the year, he continued, the small gap that existed in the first half was covered.

He said in 2025 the flow of bookings is better. Therefore, he added, "if the first half of 2025 is better than the first half of 2024, we will inevitably have a better tourist season for 2025," although, as he said, we are not talking about spectacular bookings.

Asked about the tourism infrastructure in Cyprus, Michaelides said that most of the hotels in Cyprus were built in the 1980s and 1990s, so they are 30-40 year old hotels, but in good condition.

He added that with the various incentives recently provided by the Government, most hoteliers have significantly upgraded their hotels, offering qualitative infrastructure.

So, he continued, while our product is somewhat dated, it is at a very good level compared to what exists in competitive destinations. However, we definitely need to consider in the future how we can upgrade and update our tourism product, he added.

Hotels, by their nature, he continued, "require large investments. So if we are to upgrade this tourist product, we need to consider some incentives, perhaps tax-related," he added.

Michaelides underlined that economically, it is no longer advantageous for someone to make large investments in existing units that are dated. 

He noted that there is also the issue of energy efficiency of these buildings, which, due to their age, cannot reach the performance of a brand-new building. Therefore, it is a complex issue that we need to address, he concluded.

(Source: CNA)