Nearly 10,500 hotel beds are available in Paphos district for the winter season, according to official figures from the Paphos hoteliers association, its president Evripides Loizides said, adding that while the number is similar to last year, hotel occupancy rates are running higher than expected.

Speaking to the Cyprus News Agency, Loizides said that “December was satisfactory compared with the same period last year”, a development that, he said, “strengthens optimism that Paphos has now established itself as a year-round tourist destination.”

He also noted that 2025 was a particularly strong year for tourism across Cyprus, with a record number of arrivals – estimated at around 4.5 million.

Although not all visitors stay in hotels, he said the year was positive for the hotel sector overall and expressed hope that the upward trend will continue in the future.

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Loizides said tourist demand is expected to continue to rely heavily on last-minute bookings, noting that “low-cost flights to Paphos play a significant role in sustaining occupancy levels.”

He also referred to the Polish and German markets, which are showing an upward trend and have emerged as important new source markets following the loss of Russia.

Israel, he added, continues to record high arrival numbers, although with shorter lengths of stay.

Looking ahead to the new season, he appeared cautiously optimistic, while pointing to potential challenges in the UK market, particularly in relation to the duration of holidays.

“It is not only the number of arrivals that matters, but also the length of stay, which plays a significant role in revenues,” he said, explaining that British tourists are likely to continue travelling but may opt for shorter breaks.

Loizides also expressed particular satisfaction with the launch of three weekly Lufthansa flights from April 1, describing it as a positive and new development for Paphos. At the same time, he noted that other airlines, including Ryanair, continue to operate flights successfully.

He also referred to ongoing issues facing the tourism industry, with staff shortages remaining the main concern, despite some improvement.

He expressed concern over water availability due to reduced rainfall, as well as rising prices and increased operating and wage costs. “When the numbers are doing well, everything else is doing well,” he concluded, adding that in a good season, problems tend to ease or move into the background.

Earlier in the year, the Cyprus hoteliers association (Pasyxe) released their annual report for the year 2024 which showed that arrivals between January and December of that year reached 4,040,200 million, a 5.1 per cent increase from 2023, while revenues climbed to €3.209 billion, almost 20 per cent higher than in 2019, the last year before the pandemic.

The United Kingdom remained the backbone of the market, contributing 1,373,634 arrivals or roughly a third of the total.

Israel followed with 425,606, while Poland supplied 337,139 and Germany 228,355.

Pasyxe president Thanos Michaelides noted that while the island had broken through long-standing barriers in 2024, structural challenges persisted, ranging from unlicensed short-term rentals and competition from the north to high operating costs and persistent staff shortages.