Cyprus Hotels Aim to Limit 2026 Losses to 10% After Summer Rebound

Recovery Narrows a Painful Spring Shortfall

Cyprus's hotel industry expects to limit its full-year losses for 2026 to around 10 per cent, after a difficult spring gave way to a stronger summer, Christos Angelides, director-general of the Cyprus Hotel Association (Pasyxe), said this week. The sector had absorbed losses of roughly 30 per cent in March, April and May, months that brought a wave of cancellations. "After the major difficulties experienced in March, April and May... it appears that the efforts made have borne fruit," Angelides stated.

Occupancy Holds Firm Into Autumn

Hotels have clawed back much of the lost ground since June, with July and August rated "satisfactory" despite the cancellations that preceded them, according to Angelides. Occupancy for September is running at 75 to 80 per cent, and the association is hopeful October will perform at similar levels. Much of the current demand is arriving through last-minute bookings, made two to three weeks ahead of stays, rather than the longer lead times hotels have relied on in past years.

Revenue Still Trails a Record 2025

Even with the rebound, the broader tourism sector has not matched the historic highs set in 2025, when hotels operated at near-full capacity for much of the year. Tourism revenue for the first half of 2026 totalled €1.22 billion, down 11.4 per cent from €1.37 billion in the same period of 2025, while overnight stays fell 7.7 per cent — the steepest such decline recorded anywhere in the EU. June offered a partial exception: revenue edged up 0.2 per cent to €423.1 million even as arrivals dipped 1.7 per cent to 489,965, with average spending per tourist rising 2 per cent to €863.62.

Source Markets Continue to Shift

The composition of visitors has also changed markedly in recent years. Russian tourists, who made up 27 per cent of arrivals before 2022, accounted for just 1 per cent by 2025, while Polish visitors grew from 2 per cent to 9 per cent of the market over the same period.