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Cyprus Tourism Decline Narrows As Israeli Arrivals Surge

by News Editor

August 18, 2026

Cyprus recorded 582,754 tourist arrivals in July, just 1.1% fewer than the 589,116 visitors recorded in the same month last year, according to figures from the Statistical Service (Cystat). The latest total was also 5.7% higher than in July 2024.

For the first seven months of 2026, however, arrivals reached 2,238,769, an 8% decline from 2,432,129 a year earlier. The gap has narrowed from 10.1% at the end of June, when the monthly decline stood at 1.7%.

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Israel Becomes A Major Source Of Growth

The UK remained Cyprus’ largest tourism market in July, with 185,981 visitors, accounting for 31.9% of arrivals. British tourism was down 2% year on year.

Israel, meanwhile, recorded a sharp increase. Arrivals rose 55.8% to 119,293, giving the market a 20.5% share and making it the main factor limiting the overall July decline.

Poland remained third despite a 15.6% drop to 36,912 visitors. Germany followed with 21,338, down 9.9%, while arrivals from Sweden and Denmark also declined.

Norway was another exception, with arrivals increasing 10.6% to 14,055. Romania, Greece, Austria, Switzerland, Hungary, the Netherlands and Lebanon all recorded declines.

France saw the steepest fall among the listed markets, with arrivals dropping 46.3% to 6,797.

Uneven Demand Across Tourist Districts

The differences between markets are also being reflected across Cyprus. Famagusta hoteliers reported strong demand from the UK, Israel, Poland, Scandinavia and Central Europe, while Switzerland and the Netherlands were weaker, partly because of reduced summer flight availability.

In Paphos, hotel occupancy is expected to reach 85-90% in August, with Israel potentially becoming the district’s second-largest market after Britain.

Holidays accounted for 85.2% of July arrivals, while 11.7% visited friends or relatives and 3% travelled for business.

Airport Traffic And Outbound Travel

The trend was also visible in airport traffic, which fell just 1% in July. More than 1.63 million passengers passed through Larnaca and Paphos airports, bringing the seven-month decline to 3.7%.

At the same time, more Cypriot residents travelled abroad. A total of 210,047 returned from overseas trips in July, up 12.3% from a year earlier.

Greece remained the leading destination, accounting for 38.5% of returning residents, followed by the UK at 7.1% and Italy at 6%. Poland and Germany each accounted for about 3.5%.

Holidays made up 75.2% of residents’ trips, followed by business travel at 13.7% and studies at 10.3%.

The Future Forbes Realty Global Properties

by News Editor

August 24, 2026

Courts Are Still Applying Old Copyright Rules To AI

AI companies train models on enormous amounts of published material, including books, articles and academic research. Whether using that content without authors’ permission violates copyright law remains unresolved.

Much of the debate centres on fair use, which allows copyrighted material to be used without permission in certain circumstances. Courts consider factors such as the purpose of the use, how much material was involved and its impact on the original market.

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Anthropic Case Sets An Important Precedent

A major case involving Anthropic and a group of authors provided one of the clearest rulings so far. Judge William Alsup found that using copyrighted books to train AI models was lawful, comparing the process to people reading and studying literature before creating something new.

Anthropic was nevertheless ordered to pay $1.5 billion in a settlement. The penalty concerned books the company had obtained from illegal online libraries rather than the AI training itself.

For AI companies, that distinction could prove significant because it separates studying copyrighted material from directly copying it.

Competition Could Be The Key Issue

A case involving Thomson Reuters and Ross Intelligence offers a different perspective. A court ruled that Ross could not claim fair use after using Reuters’ copyrighted material to develop a competing AI-powered legal research platform.

The decision suggests courts may be less willing to consider AI training fair use when copyrighted content is used to build a product that directly competes with the original.

For authors, an unresolved question is whether AI-generated content should be considered competition for the works used to train these models.

The Law Has Yet To Catch Up

US copyright law predates generative AI by decades, leaving courts to apply old principles to new technology. Questions also remain over copyright protection for AI-generated works. In Thaler v. Perlmutter, a court ruled that material created entirely by AI cannot receive copyright protection.

Major AI companies remain involved in copyright litigation, and different courts could reach different conclusions. For now, there is no universal rule: the legality of AI training will depend on the circumstances of each case and how courts ultimately interpret copyright and fair use.