Nicosia, Cyprus. Cyprus tourism showed signs of stabilisation in official figures for May and June, Deputy Minister of Tourism Kostas Koumis told parliament on Tuesday during a House Trade Committee session on the impact of Middle East tensions on the sector. Separately, energy expert Andreas Poullikkas said Cyprus lacks a coherent long-term energy strategy amid pressures from costs, climate targets and geopolitics.
Tourism figures show stabilisation
The House Trade Committee examined the effects of the volatile regional situation on Cyprus’ tourism industry and possible support measures for affected businesses.
Koumis said that, despite the intense shock suffered by the tourism economy, the losses reflected in May data had been significantly contained.
He said the most important development was that Cypriot tourism had returned to a stable path, that the measures taken appeared to have worked effectively, and that the sector was again demonstrating resilience.
Arrivals remain below 2025 levels
Koumis said 2026 would not be a record year, citing significant losses in March and April.
He said May reduced the decline in tourist arrivals to 4.9 per cent compared with May 2025, while still showing an 8.1 per cent increase compared with 2024.
Energy strategy warning
In a recently published analysis, energy expert and former chief of the Cyprus Energy Regulatory Authority (CERA) Andreas Poullikkas said Cyprus lacks a coherent long-term energy strategy despite growing pressures from costs, climate targets and geopolitics.
He said energy is one of the most complex issues of the present time and extends beyond production and consumption.
Multiple pressures on policy
Poullikkas said energy is linked simultaneously to security of supply, household costs, infrastructure investment, climate commitments and geopolitical stability, placing policy under pressure from multiple directions at once.
He said some focus on monthly bills, others on new generation units, others on emissions, and others on strategic autonomy.
Poullikkas described complexity not as a detail but as the core of the problem in energy policy design.