One in three tourists arriving in Cyprus stay overnight in the north or opt for Airbnb – licensed or not, Pasyxe chairman Thanos Michaelides told the hotel owners’ association general meeting on Tuesday.

Michaelides said this meant thousands of arrivals at Cyprus’ airports left next to nothing in the Republic in terms of money.

“As a result, we are bearing this environmental burden, without any substantive benefit,” he said.

Michaelides added that 2024 was a record year, as tourist arrivals exceeded 4 million, compared to 3.8 million in 2023, while revenue reached €3.2 million in 2024, compared to €3m in 2023, recording an increase of 7.3 per cent.

The chairman of Pasyxe also outline the sector’s challenges, such as limited air connectivity, which affected access to most potential tourist markets.

Due to better connectivity, flights to and from Poland increased by 22 per cent in 2024, bringing 23 per cent more visitors to Cyprus.

Poland, he said, was the third largest market with 337,000 arrivals, after Israel with 425,000 and the UK with over 1.3 million.

Michaelides said efforts should be made towards other countries, such as Germany, where 77 per cent of the population or 50 million people travelled abroad in 2023.

Another challenge Michaelides pointed out was human resources.

In 2024, he said, 49,592 people were employed in the sector, however the difficulties in finding qualified staff remained.

Michaelides gave the example of Norway, which ran a campaign to bring young people into the sector and also promoted the integration of people over the age of 55 in customer service and managerial positions.

Pasyxe recently launched a discussion on training people for the sector, focusing on those aged 55 to 65.