Israel and the United Kingdom will together account for about half of all tourist arrivals in Cyprus this year, a level of reliance on the two markets not seen since 2019, the president of the Cyprus Association of Travel and Tourist Agents (ACTTA) said on Thursday.
Haris Papacharalambous told the association’s annual general meeting that a rise in Israeli arrivals over the past three to four months had filled the gap left by falling numbers from Europe. If current trends continue, he said, Israeli arrivals will reach about 650,000, perhaps 700,000. Together with Britain, that would be “something that has not happened since 2019 and creates a new situation of dependency”, he said.
Arrivals from European countries fell by close to 10 per cent in the first half of 2026, Papacharalambous said, and the drop in British arrivals was larger still. Arrivals from France and Italy, both target markets, fell by 36.5 per cent and 33.5 per cent respectively.
Deputy Tourism Minister Kostas Koumis told the meeting that the Deputy Ministry’s timely measures and the sector’s resilience had halted the fall caused by the events at the British Bases in March. He said it was very positive that losses in arrivals had so far been limited to 7 per cent.
Government measures this year had brought about a complete recovery in tourism within a reasonable period, Koumis said. He cited the latest figures from the Statistical Service, which showed revenue in the first seven months of 2026 was down by just 7 per cent on the previous year.
Cyprus had a record 4.5 million arrivals in 2025, Papacharalambous said. Of these, 42 per cent came from EU countries and almost 81 per cent from Europe as a whole. Tourism brought in 3.7 billion euros, about 14 per cent of GDP, or close to 20 per cent if the wider hospitality sector is included.
For outbound travel, Greece was the destination for 33 per cent of trips, followed by the United Kingdom.
