Cyprus Business Now: tourism, overnight stays, Finance Minister, CBC, renewables
Business & Economy wrap-up from the day before
According to a Eurostat report released on Friday, the island’s tourism sector has experienced substantial growth, outperforming several regional averages.
In a comparison of annual data, the total nights spent at tourist accommodation in Cyprus rose from 15,636,125 in 2023 to 17,909,478 in 2024, representing a remarkable 14.54 per cent increase between those two years.
According to an official announcement from the Finance Ministry, Keravnos will begin his schedule on Monday, January 19, by attending a Eurogroup meeting that focuses on the adoption of the Euro by Bulgaria.
Following this update, the gathered ministers will exchange views on the economic policy priorities for the Eurozone for 2026, utilising recommendations issued by the European Commission in November as a primary basis.
The session will also include a briefing on the results of recent G7 finance meetings, while France, holding the body’s presidency for 2026, will present its specific objectives.
This ambitious project, titled Promoting Local Apiary Networks and Bee Entrepreneurial Excellence, seeks to foster innovation, environmental stewardship, and sustainable tourism across six partner nations.
Co-funded at 89 per cent by the European Union under the Interreg NEXT MED Programme, the initiative operates with a total budget of €2,807,656, of which the EU contribution amounts to €2,498,813.84.
The Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry, along with A.M. Filagrotiki Symvouleftiki Ltd, are among the co-coordinators of the project.
The EU-wide figure marked a 2.1 percentage point increase from 2023 and represents an increase of almost 30 percentage points since 2004, when renewables accounted for just 15.9 per cent of electricity consumption.
The share rose to 28.6 per cent in 2014 before climbing sharply to 47.5 per cent in 2024, underscoring the bloc’s accelerating transition towards cleaner energy.
Despite the overall upward trend, Cyprus remained among the EU’s weakest performers, with renewable sources accounting for 24.1 per cent of electricity consumption in 2024.
In Larnaca, expectations remain upbeat following what officials describe as a strong year.
Speaking to the Cyprus News Agency, Larnaca Regional Board of Tourism (Etap) president Dinos Lefkaritis said that, after “a successful programme of actions in 2025”, work is under way to roll out a new action plan alongside ongoing initiatives.
The objective, he added, is to “upgrade the touristic Larnaca, promote it, enrich the tourist product and maintain and enhance our authenticity, which is an element that characterises the board”.
Beyond promotion, the focus will shift to practical improvements on the ground.
In an article first shared in Cypriot daily Phileleftheros, the governor suggested that while the country is starting the year from a position of strength, the global landscape remains treacherous.
He explained that the Cypriot economy maintains solid prospects with a growth rate expected to hover around 3 per cent in the coming period, a figure significantly higher than the euro area average.
Patsalides stated that public debt is on a steady downward path, with the debt to GDP ratio falling below 60 per cent for the first time in several years, finally meeting the Maastricht Treaty threshold.
Inflation is projected to remain stable at 2 per cent, while the labour market continues to demonstrate resilience under conditions of full employment.
According to an announcement by the Cyprus Sustainable Tourism Initiative (CSTI), the project, titled ‘Creating Resilient SMEs in the Tourism Sector (ReTour)’, is led by the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering of the National Technical University of Athens.
It is funded under the Interreg NEXT MED programme, with a total budget of €1.83 million, of which €1.63 million, 89 per cent, is contributed by the European Union.
The initiative aims to support tourism SMEs in adapting to an increasingly volatile operating environment, marked by recurring crises, seasonal pressures, climate change and wider geopolitical developments.
According to initial estimates from Eurostat, the island secured the second-highest annual growth rate across the entire bloc, trailing only Ireland.
This surge comes as seasonally adjusted industrial production across the broader euro area and the EU showed more modest monthly improvements of 0.7 per cent and 0.2 per cent respectively.
During the previous month of October 2025, industrial production had grown by 0.7 per cent in the euro area and 0.2 per cent in the EU.
When comparing the broader annual figures for November 2025 against November 2024, the euro area witnessed an overall increase of 2.5 per cent, while the EU saw a rise of 2.2 per cent.
Its president, Thanos Michaelides said that maintaining similar results over two successive seasons has helped create a more predictable operating environment for the industry, noting that “two consecutive years with similar results create an environment of stability”.
While occupancy indicators point to a successful year, Michaelides stressed that profitability remains the most critical factor for the long-term sustainability of hotel units.
He told the Cyprus News Agency (CNA) that “the occupancy rates confirm the success of 2025”, adding, however, that profitability has not followed the same upward path.
According to the venture capital firm’s year-end review, the period was defined by a transition toward sustainable revenue generation and clearer paths to international scale for its diverse group of investee companies.
At Threedium, the year represented a “defining inflection point” as the company transitioned into a scaled, intelligent 3D GenAI infrastructure platform.
Led by chief executive Mike Charalambous Angelides, the firm delivered 42 per cent year-on-year growth in monthly recurring revenue while maintaining a 97 per cent retention rate among enterprise clients.
The company, which serves global blue-chip brands such as LVMH, L’Oréal, and Diageo, also made the strategic decision to sunset its Studio operations to focus on a high-margin licensing model.
Speaking to Entrepreneurial Limassol, a periodical published by the Limassol Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Evel), Mesimeris clarified that the objective is to finally establish a clear coordination mechanism, with well-defined responsibilities and timelines, so that every involved authority knows exactly what actions to take, both preventively and in the event of a crisis.
This effort, however, did not emerge in a vacuum. The starting point dates back to January 2024, when the Council of Ministers decided to coordinate, at a central level, the issue of preventing and responding to incidents of marine pollution.
At the time, Mesimeris explained that “there was intense deliberation over who should assume the role of coordinator, as well as which services and institutional stakeholders could provide meaningful support for this critical objective.”