Thanos Michaelides: 2025 may be slightly better for the hotel industry than 2024

Approximately 50 hotels are operating with a festive programme in all the provinces of Cyprus during the New Year, the President of the Cyprus Hotel Association (PASYXE), Thanos Michaelides, has said.

In recent comments to the Cyprus News Agency (CNA), he also estimated that 2025 is likely to be slightly better for the hotel industry than 2024.

Michaelides told CNA that there are approximately 50 hotels operating in all the provinces of Cyprus during the winter and the festive season specifically.

He noted that hotels are offering a festive programme on New Year's Eve, adding that "it is the winter period during which Cypriots will prefer to go to hotels to have fun and welcome the new year."

He also stated that there is also interest in the mountain resorts of Cyprus, where a festive programme will also be offered.

Asked whether there are foreign tourists in Cyprus hotels these days,. Michaelides said that foreigners who come to Cyprus in the winter mostly come to enjoy the weather.

"These are people who stay on the island for about ten to fifteen days on average. These are mainly British people and people from central Europe, such as Germany, Poland and Austria," he added.

Asked whether the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East have affected winter tourism in Cyprus, Michaelides said that when there is instability in the neighboring regions of Cyprus, the flight schedule may be reduced and at times doubts may be created among tourists.

He said that, regarding Russian tourism for the winter, , there had not been a significant flow of tourists to Cyprus even before the crisis with Russia and Ukraine. "The big loss we are measuring from Russia and Ukraine is for the summer months," he noted.

Asked to assess whether 2025 will be a good year for the hotel industry, Michaelides responded that "the messages we have received from the London exhibition in November were quite positive," adding that the United Kingdom market is the most important for Cyprus.

"So if there is indeed a positive development there and the first half of 2025 is better than the first half of 2024, then I believe that 2025 may surpass 2024. Of course, no thematic differences are expected, but it is likely to be slightly better than 2024," he added.

(Sources: InBusinessNews/CNA)