Hotel occupancy in Larnaca fell by 15 per cent in July compared with the same month last year, a decline Larnaca hotel association chairman Marios Polyviou attributed to the conflict in the Middle East.

“There is still uncertainty in the tourist market,” Polyviou told the Cyprus News Agency on Tuesday.

He said hoteliers were keeping their expectations for August modest, although agreements signed between Larnaca hotels and tour operators TUI UK and Jet2 were “particularly important” for the coastal town.

“This will greatly help the Larnaca market,” Polyviou said, expressing hope that 2027 would bring a significant increase in arrivals.

July closed with 15 per cent fewer hotel bookings compared to July last year, Polyviou said, while August was showing bookings reaching 75 per cent capacity so far, compared to 90 per cent in 2025.

Polyviou said there was some hope that last-minute bookings could improve the August figures.

Israel is Larnaca’s largest tourism market.

Polyviou said flights began picking up again during the second half of July, returning to last year’s level of around 25 flights a day from Israel to Larnaca airport.

The UK is the town’s second-largest tourism market, followed by Germany, Poland and Greece.

Looking ahead to September and beyond, Polyviou said making predictions would be risky, as tourism remained heavily dependent on developments in the Middle East.

So far, however, there are quite a few bookings for Larnaca, indicating that this September would not be worse than last year.

According to the statistical service, tourism revenue fell by 16 per cent during the first six months of 2026 compared with the same period in 2025.

Polyviou said the impact of the Middle East conflict may be actually worse, if one takes into consideration that January and February were good months for tourism, with a 15 per cent increase compared to the same two months last year.