Cyprus tourism must focus on winter growth, says association chief

Cyprus’ travel industry needs to treat winter as its next real growth frontier, the president of the Association of Travel and Tourism Agents of Cyprus (Actta), Charis Papacharalambous, told members at the association’s annual general meeting in Nicosia.

The meeting came at the end of a year in which Actta marked its 70th anniversary and reviewed a packed list of initiatives.

After outlining the sector’s strong performance in 2024, he noted that arrivals exceeded 4 million, with the EU accounting for 42.5 per cent and Europe overall 83 per cent, generating more than €3.2 billion in revenue and lifting tourism’s contribution to GDP above 13 per cent.

However, as he put it, success should not rest on historic records alone but on “the real potential of our industry”, as well as on strategic goals, the removal of long-standing distortions, the adoption of modern practices, and the overall experience visitors take away.

Technology, he added, is pushing the industry forward at a pace that leaves no room for slow adaptation. Cyprus, in his view, needs to become “more flexible, more efficient, faster and much more substantial”.

It was winter tourism, however, that he described as the sector’s biggest missed opportunity.

He said this is where Cyprus has “the big gaps and the opportunity for large increases”, with much of the island’s infrastructure standing underused once the summer season ends.

Winter activity, Papacharalambous argued, is “the key to the prosperity of the sector”, because it strengthens connectivity, stabilises operating costs and helps tackle persistent challenges involving staffing and service quality.

He pointed out that reaching even half the arrivals of the best month during each of the five winter months would generate around 650,000 additional visitors and approximately €0.5bn more in revenue, equal to roughly 1.6 per cent of GDP, without any new infrastructure and without burdening peak-season capacity.

Papacharalambous noted that Actta maintains close cooperation with the Deputy Ministry of Tourism and has already submitted targeted proposals under the Strategic Tourism Plan.

The association has also advanced suggestions for small, flexible committees that would work within set timeframes to study key weaknesses and bring forward practical solutions.

He added that Actta continues to advocate for the modernisation of the framework governing transport and tour-guide services, saying the current legislation no longer serves the interests of the industry and leads to distortions that reduce service quality and increase costs.

“We are doing well, but there is room for improvement,” he told the assembly.

Tourism, he said, “is not a given and competition is fierce”, urging all stakeholders to adopt concrete actions, follow strategic planning and “dare to bring about changes, to invest in the product and services we offer”.

In his remarks on outbound tourism, he said Cypriot residents made a record 1.75m trips in 2025, with Greece accounting for 35 per cent.

Even so, the sector faces challenges of its own, ranging from rapid technological changes to the steady increase in illegality in outbound travel.

He acknowledged that tackling illegality “remains difficult for many reasons”, though the association has already prepared proposals for the relevant legislation and continues to notify the competent authorities about cases identified.

At the same time, Actta, as mentioned, is pushing to update the rules governing organised travel so that consumers remain fully protected without tour agents bearing “unnecessary and unreasonable expenses”.