"Our goal is to achieve connectivity with India, following my successful visit to India, the Ministry of Transport is in consultations, in order to achieve the goal of connectivity, while the launch of flights from Kazakhstan is particularly important. I had the opportunity to travel on the first flight. So, we are working on the basis of a specific plan. We know the importance of connectivity, so that it can be strengthened even more," Nikos Christodoulides has said.
The President was speaking at the Annual General Assembly of the Cyprus Hotel Association (Pasyxe).
At the same time, referring to the escalation of the crisis in the Middle East and the wider effects that arose and affected tourism, Christodoulides pointed out that "under the circumstances, the losses, both in airline seats and in planned tourist packages, remain manageable."
Nikos Christodoulides' speech, translated from the original Greek:
It is with great pleasure that I participate again this year, together with several members of the Cabinet, in the Annual General Assembly of the Cyprus Hotel Association, in a year of special symbolism and historical importance for your Association, as it happily completes 90 years of uninterrupted contribution and substantial contribution to the field of tourism and hospitality, but also to the economic development of our country.
And allow me to start by saying that for our Government, PASYXE. It is a partner and companion in our constant, I believe, joint effort to upgrade our hospitality services and our overall tourism product in general. At the same time, PASYXE is a strategic partner in a particularly demanding and highly competitive sector, such as tourism, which affects and is being influenced horizontally by other policy areas as well.
The tourism sector is one of the main pillars of the economy for our country, with an extremely significant contribution to economic activity and the labor market.
Over the past two years, the contribution of tourism to the Cypriot economy has shown a significant increase, from 12.8% in 2023 to 14% in 2025, while the rise in the main indicators of arrivals and revenues in recent years is also noteworthy.
Specifically, tourist arrivals increased by 17.9%, while compared to 2022 the increase amounted to 41.6%. Respectively, tourism revenues increased by 23.6%, while compared to 2022 the increase reached 51.5%.
Last year's record year was certainly a point of reference, both in terms of arrivals and revenues, with 4.5 million visitor arrivals and 3.7 billion euros in tourism revenues.
These performances were neither coincidental nor circumstantial. It was the result of substantial cooperation between the public and private sectors, but also of the improvement of key parameters, such as, for example, the strengthening of air connectivity and the further deepening of relations with strategic partners and partners of our country, and we will continue to work in this direction.
Our goal is to achieve connectivity with India, following my successful visit to India, the Ministry of Transport is in consultations, in order to achieve the goal of connectivity while the launch of flights from Kazakhstan is particularly important. I had the opportunity to travel on the first flight. So, we are working on the basis of a specific plan. We know the importance of connectivity so that it is even more enhanced.
It is important to mention that - we are working towards the important goal that is achievable, to make Cyprus a year-round destination - during 2025 historically high performance was recorded in 10 out of 12 months of the year, which confirms that we have begun to gain significant ground in a timeless pursuit of both you and the state, the tourism industry: the extension of the tourist season and the gradual transformation of Cyprus into a year-round tourist destination.
2026 started with exactly the same dynamics, however, unfortunately, the escalation of the crisis in the Middle East and the wider effects that arose, inevitably, affected tourism.
From the first moment, our primary goal and pursuit was to restore the sense of security of our citizens and we moved in this direction, taking into account the response we had successfully, a goal that was achieved and positively affected the tourism industry.
At the same time, we focused on maintaining the air connectivity of our country – both at the level of the Deputy Minister of Tourism and I spoke with several companies that organized trips to Cyprus – and the continuation of the planned tourism programs. In this context, with targeted actions abroad, we have gradually and naturally and with your cooperation, established the image of Cyprus as a safe and reliable tourist destination.
Of course, we do not ignore the effects recorded during the initial stage of the crisis and precisely for this reason as a Government we stood by our hoteliers, with targeted measures. We are waiting for the relevant applications from the tourism industry, so far the number of applications is limited, so we expect you to make the relevant applications.
And this ability of ours to respond to a difficult moment in the tourism industry is due to our responsible economic policy which is not carried away by populist approaches and very nice statements that I hear made from time to time, nice statements that in the very recent past led our country to disaster with very serious consequences for the tourism industry as well.
Today, evaluating the data so far, we can say that, under the circumstances, the losses, both in airline seats and in planned tourist packages, remain manageable. At the same time, taking into account the data in Europe, in other European destinations that operate in competition with Cyprus, we must aim to grow, to lengthen the year. We can make it to the end of November at least and this will help us deal with any losses we had in March and April due to the crisis.
It would be an omission not to mention another dimension in which your role was decisive, the Cyprus Presidency of the Council of the European Union, which was recently concluded, admittedly, with excellent results, many deliverables, a fact for which our country received praise from our partners and the institutions in the EU.
The Cypriot hotel industry has once again proven that it has the necessary infrastructure and know-how to provide high-quality services.
At the same time, the conferences and informal ministerial meetings hosted in Cyprus were an excellent opportunity to highlight Cyprus as a safe, modern, reliable and quality tourist destination, presenting the comparative advantages of our country to a particularly demanding public.
Therefore, I would like, on the occasion of today's opportunity, to express my sincere thanks to you for your excellent cooperation and substantial contribution. The provision of high quality hospitality services was one of the great bets of the Cyprus Presidency.
You know it better. Tourism is a sector characterized by constant changes and developments. In addition to the exogenous factors that have influenced, affect and will continue to influence its course over time, it is equally important to recognize that its evolution is also determined by our own choices, the policies we implement and the decisions we make.
In this context, our Government approved a few months ago the National Tourism Strategy 2035, which aspires to be the roadmap for the development of tourism over the next decade. We must not only set goals for the next year, we must set goals to constantly evaluate the results and where the necessary adjustments must be made.
This is a comprehensive action plan with clear goals and priorities, which includes, among other things, the extension of the tourist season with the ultimate goal of the gradual evolution of our country into a year-round tourist destination - it is an achievable goal as we saw from last year - the further development of alternative forms of tourism, the promotion of the special characteristics of Cypriot nature, culture and authenticity of our people, as well as the diffusion of economic benefit throughout society.
We are working for a tourism model that supports and revitalizes the remote areas of our country, another goal, and which creates the conditions for the gradual establishment of Cyprus as an integrated, all-year, tourist destination.
Knowing that this year's General Assembly of your Association is also an election one, I would like to publicly express my sincere thanks to the outgoing president of PASYXE, Thanos Michaelides, for his important and multi-level contribution, as well as for the excellent cooperation we had throughout his term. I am sure that he will continue to serve PASYXE. I would also like to extend warm thanks to the entire outgoing Board of Directors of the Association.
At the same time, I would like to wish the new President and the members of the newly elected Board of Directors every success in their work, expressing my confidence that our cooperation will continue to be characterized by a spirit of mutual trust and a common orientation, our goals and aspirations are common.
(Source: InBusinessNews)
