As an example successful management and resilience the Cypriot tourism model is presented in an annual report jointly prepared by Oxford Economics and TOURISE.
The report is titled "Resilience in a World That Doesn't Reset", and refers to specific examples of tourist destinations that have been able to recover from crises that the sector is going through.
Cyprus holds prominent position in the report, on how it managed to make up for the loss of the Russian market, which as is known lost its momentum after the start of the Russo-Ukrainian war.
The report makes special reference to the years 2024 and 2025, which, as is known, were achieved consecutive arrival records, and which in essence achieved the replacement of the large Russian market.
As is known, the loss of the Russian market was a major blow to Cypriot tourism, since in one night 20% of arrivals, which constituted the market share of the Russian market before the 2022 crisis, were lost.
Essentially, the reaction of the Cypriot tourism ecosystem, the Deputy Ministry of Tourism and the tourism industry, was to change marketing strategy and turn to other European markets in order to fill the gap.
A prime example is Polish market where, according to the statistical service, arrivals from this country doubled since 2022 and reached 374 thousand tourists in 2025.
Beyond the Polish market, however, a general increase was recorded from EU countries by 44.5%, while more than doubled and the arrivals from Israel which reached 590 thousand in 2025.
The Deputy Minister of Tourism is satisfied
In his statements to InBusinessNews, Deputy Minister of Tourism, Costas Koumis, stressed that the report by Tourise and Oxford Economics, also confirms in its own way, the resilience that characterizes our country's tourism ecosystem, noting that "It is with satisfaction that we note that our country is becoming a positive reference point for the global tourism community and an example to follow".
"It focuses primarily on replenishing the large share of the Russian market, which as is known amounted to 20% in 2019, and was equivalent to 781.000 tourist arrivals, and makes particular reference to the successes of 2024 and 2025, but also to how they were achieved.", he added, emphasizing that the report makes particular reference to the rise in the share of the Polish market, from 2% in 2019 to 8% in 2025, a market from which a doubling of arrivals was achieved in a three-year cycle.
"More generally, in the tourism sector, island destinations like our country must definitely invest in improving air connectivity, a point that is mentioned in the research and certainly in promotional actions, as well as in infrastructure. These elements are part of the alphabet of tourism, along with many others, of course," he continued.
The secret of success
Responding to a relevant question, Mr. Koumis emphasized that "I would say the secret to success is the correct assessments in relation to the growth prospects of certain markets. Making correct assessments, whether in periods of normality or in periods of crisis, is the most basic ingredient for success."
"As a government and as the Deputy Ministry of Tourism, we have invested heavily in some markets that we saw as having growth potential and we were not satisfied with simply improving air connectivity," he pointed out, indicating that "we placed particular emphasis on strengthening our relationships with Tour Operators, on holding people-centered events such as road shows in the heart of tourism sources and hosted journalists and influencers in an effort to promote the destination in a people-centered manner."
Summing up, he said, "I believe that this particular success belongs to the entire tourism ecosystem of our country and everyone really deserves many congratulations."
"I believe that in the next edition of the corresponding research, there will very likely be reference to what we experienced in 2026 as a tourist destination, as the only European tourist destination that took a critical hit, but which managed to respond successfully again within a period of 8-10 weeks.", the Deputy Minister of Tourism further emphasized.
TOURISE
It is noted that TOURISE is a global tourism platform dedicated to shaping the future of travel and destination development.
Its headquarters are in Saudi Arabia and its President is the Minister of Tourism of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Ahmed Al-Khateeb.
Source: InBusinessNews
