"As a country, we have successfully managed the tourism crisis, and this is due to the excellent cooperation between the public and private sectors," stated Deputy Minister of Tourism, Kostas Koumis, noting that the overall decline in the first seven months of 2026 stood at 8%, indicating that the decline is now on a downward trajectory, while it is estimated that the year will close with a decline of around 5%.
On Friday morning, Kostas Koumis participated in a meeting of ETAP and PASYXE Limassol, along with local authorities, where they discussed the challenges and prospects for the tourism sector in the city and district of Limassol.
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As he stated, “in the tourism sector, nothing can be achieved without close cooperation between the public and private sectors,” noting that “we all share the responsibility to ensure that tourism operates properly and efficiently and that our country remains a competitive destination.”
This year, he continued, we were called upon to manage a major crisis, “but now that time has passed, we can speak freely. We managed the crisis successfully as a country, precisely because we had good cooperation with the private sector.”
As he noted, “we were getting a picture of the scale of the problem and the thousands of cancellations, as well as the freeze on bookings, and whenever we received an update, a series of actions followed,” while he pointed out that “not all countries—even those less affected than ours—managed to handle the crisis in exactly the same way.”
Referring to the results of the tourism year, he said, “Now it’s the numbers that speak, the results speak, not the estimates.”
Specifically, he added, the decline for the month of June was around 1% and slightly over 1% for the month of July, while the results for August are still pending. “The total rate for the first seven months of the year has fallen to 8%, and I emphasize the word ‘fallen’ because it indicates that the decline is now clearly on a downward trajectory,” he added.
In addition, Mr. Koumis said that the year is expected to close with a decline of around 5%, noting that “it will be higher than in 2024, but if we take into account what has happened over the course of the year, I think this proves that we have successfully managed the tourism crisis—which was severe and significant.”
As for Limassol, he noted that for years its share of the tourism market has remained around 12%, emphasizing that “every geographic region must highlight its comparative advantages and strive to secure and increase its share” and that “usually, the complaints we receive relate to average per-capita spending and not to the decline in arrivals.”
“As for our advantages, as a Deputy Ministry and as a government, we have a firm stance on this,” he added, noting that today he is visiting the community of Pissouri “a village right next door, which was named one of the most beautiful villages in the world a year and a half ago, to view a new museum space currently being prepared there.” According to Mr. Koumis, the Deputy Ministry hopes that such spaces will become competitive advantages for the tourism product of the city and Limassol District.
When asked whether he is concerned about the issue of pollution in the Limassol sea, the Deputy Minister of Tourism said that “The government operates on the basis of jurisdiction, and the Deputy Ministry of Shipping is responsible for this specific issue.” “We are in constant communication with the Deputy Ministry of Maritime Affairs; we are aware that an analysis of the issue has already been conducted, it will be handled by the country’s competent authorities, and from there on, we hope that a solution will be found over time,” he said.
Cyprus’s seas, he noted, are one of our country’s comparative advantages, and he emphasized that we must all work together, “and when I say all of us together, I mean not only those of us in the tourism sector but also the country’s citizens,” to preserve the high quality of our seas.
Among other things, he noted that tourism is a very dynamic industry “that operates in an optimistic and beautiful context, but at the same time, because it is so dynamic and involves the movement of millions of people, dozens of problems arise every day.”
Noting that “in the tourism sector, the problems never stop” and that “it is an industry that never sleeps,” Kostas Koumis assured that as the Deputy Ministry “we are moving forward with a series of actions aimed at improving our country in the context of the digital transition and digital transformation.”
“As the Deputy Ministry of Tourism, we are putting the European Tourism Agenda 2030 into practice, which includes and highlights the need to take action regarding the green dimension, the digital transition, legislative frameworks, and two additional pillars—and you will see that we are working to bring all of these to fruition,” he added.
For his part, the President of the Limassol Tourism Board, Andreas Tsoulofta, thanked the Deputy Minister of Tourism for his positive response to participating in the meeting, noting that the goal is “to examine the issues facing the Limassol tourism industry and to develop a plan for the coming period, focusing on how we can best promote the tourism product of our city and district.”
Expressing satisfaction with the work of the Deputy Ministry of Tourism, he said, “We collaborated flawlessly during the crisis, and it seems to have paid off.”
At the same time, he noted that Limassol’s share of the tourism market may be around 12%, but this is also due to the number of available beds, since, as he said, “small, low-star hotels have been converted into other types of lodging, such as residential units, and we’ve lost quite a few beds.”
“It would be ideal if there were interest or some incentives to increase the number of these beds, to boost our share of the Cypriot tourism market,” continued Mr. Tsoulofta, who noted, as a positive development, the fact that Limassol attracts tourists with higher income levels, “which is what we have aimed for and continue to aim for.”
Furthermore, the President of PASYXE Limassol, Christos Tsanos, praised the work of the Deputy Ministry of Tourism during the tourism crisis.
“Sure, Limassol is what it is—you’re here and you can see it for yourselves— we’re not going to create another Limassol now; we must maintain the current standard and invite others who wish to stay in our Limassol,” he added.
As PASYXE Limassol, he continued, “we have a multi-level campaign and multi-level relationships with the OEB, the KEVE, and the ETAP, and the marketing committee is now strengthening our efforts on many levels, including with the Limassol Municipality, and the Deputy Minister will stand by our side because that is his job.”
