An Easter Villages scheme to attract more visitors to Cyprus’ rural and mountainous communities during the Easter period will be launched in 2027, the deputy tourism ministry said on Tuesday.

The initiative, approved by the cabinet last week, will invite municipalities and communities along the Heartland of Legends route to apply for funding.

Ten locations will be selected to organise Easter-themed activities from Holy Thursday to the Sunday after Easter.

The programme will include traditional food preparation, craft workshops, Epitaphios decoration, and Easter games.

It will also feature guided tours, Cypriot dance lessons, Byzantine music, iconography demonstrations and outdoor activities.

Communities can set up stalls to promote and sell local products.

Deputy Tourism Minister Kostas Koumis said the scheme aims to boost tourism, attract more visitors to rural areas, support local communities and preserve Cyprus’ cultural heritage through authentic Easter experiences.

Although the tourism sector has shown encouraging signs of recovery after the disruption caused by regional instability, tourism arrivals have fallen since the start of the year and have not returned to expected levels.

The impact of the Middle East crisis, which started at the end of Frbruary was felt almost immediately.

During the first four months of 2026, total tourism receipts stood at €443 million, marking a 23.9 per cent decrease from the €582.5 million recorded in the same period in 2025.

Visitor spending also weakened, with average expenditure per tourist falling by 10.3 per cent to €651.77, while daily spending dropped from €94.34 to €80.47.

However, tourism remains one of Cyprus’ most important economic pillars, contributing around 13 to 14 per cent of GDP and supporting tens of thousands of jobs, both directly and indirectly.

Despite the challenges, there are signs that the sector is beginning to recover.

May arrivals were only 4.9 per cent lower than the record levels achieved in 2025 and remained 8.1 per cent above 2024 figures.

Passenger traffic in the first three weeks of June was similarly resilient, standing just 4.3 per cent below last year while still exceeding 2024 levels by 7.1 per cent.

Earlier in the year, January and February marked the strongest start to a tourism season ever recorded, with arrivals increasing by 9.1 per cent compared with the previous year.