The Deputy Minister of Tourism for Cyprus Costas Koumis has been holding a series of meetings with major airlines, tour operators and other bodies during this year’s World Travel Market (WTM) in London.

As he told the Cyprus News Agency at the country’s exhibition space in the WTM, which brings together about 55 exhibitors, the messages he has been receiving are quite positive: “All the tourism entities with which we have held meetings have expressed the best comments with regard to destination Cyprus. Cyprus has established itself as a factor of trust and of course our country has associated its name with the safety factor.”

Giving his view on how the coming year will play out in terms of incoming tourism, the Deputy Minister said that “the messages are positive.”

He noted that the issue of late deliveries of aircraft to airlines has yet to be eliminated, causing some problems with flight schedules; however Cyprus “remains optimistic that 2025 will be a very good year, on par with the year running.”

Asked more specifically about the performance of the UK market, Koumis noted that it has always been the largest and most significant tourist pool for Cyprus.

“In the previous year we had had over 1.3 million arrivals. For the first nine months of the current year we have recorded an increase of 4.9%. As for the coming year, we expect to have numbers at the same level as this year’s,” he said.

He did, however, emphasise that for the UK market share of arrivals to Cyprus to increase even further there needs to be an extended season.

“I want to be absolutely specific. It is not easy for the British market to grow even further. For that to happen, and I am referring mainly to the summer season, there would have to be a decrease of visits from some other markets. I say this because during the summer season hotel capacity in Cyprus reaches almost 100%.

“We are interested in achieving the diversification which we always seek in tourism and we are keen to extend the tourism season. It is an issue that we seem to be delivering at a reasonable pace. During the current year we have gained a few weeks. Our aim for the next year is for the months at the start and at the end of the usual tourism season to be stronger. We are entitled to be optimistic than we will achieve this,” Deputy Minister Koumis concluded.