Cyprus records EU’s largest fall in tourist accommodation nights in first half of 2026

Nicosia, Cyprus. Cyprus recorded the largest year-on-year decline in tourist accommodation nights among EU member states in the first half of 2026, according to a Destination Finder analysis of Eurostat data. Accommodation nights fell by 7.71 per cent from the same period in 2025.

Accommodation nights decline

Romania recorded the second-largest decline, with accommodation nights down 6.71 per cent. Across the EU, overnight stays totalled 1.321 billion during the first six months of 2026, an increase of 1.7 per cent year on year.

Cyprus remained under pressure in June, when tourist accommodation nights fell by 6.78 per cent compared with the same month a year earlier. Nights spent by non-residents declined by 6.04 per cent, while resident overnight stays fell by 19.16 per cent.

Non-residents accounted for 95.06 per cent of all accommodation nights in Cyprus during June.

Arrivals and revenue

Tourist arrivals in Cyprus also declined during the first half of the year. The country received around 1.66 million visitors between January and June, down 10.1 per cent from the corresponding period in 2025.

June arrivals were down by 1.7 per cent to 489,965. Tourism revenue for the month increased by 0.2 per cent to €423.1 million.

Average expenditure per tourist rose by 2 per cent to €863.62, while the average length of stay declined to 8.2 days from 8.5 days a year earlier.

For the first half of 2026, tourism receipts fell by 11.4 per cent to €1.22 billion, compared with €1.38 billion in the corresponding period of 2025.

Growth in other EU markets

Several other EU tourism markets reported growth in accommodation nights during the first half of 2026. Malta recorded an increase of 9.91 per cent, followed by Slovakia with 5.86 per cent, Slovenia with 5.66 per cent, and Poland and Estonia with 5.18 per cent each.

Denmark recorded growth of 3.75 per cent, Hungary 3.70 per cent and Italy 3.14 per cent.