Cyprus’ short-term rental market is heading into a softer tourism season, with occupancy rates and prices both down by 10% to 15% from a year earlier, according to industry representatives.

Occupancy And Prices Decline

Speaking to Alpha TV, Konstantinos Karakontis, president of the Self-Service Tourist Accommodation Association (Stek), said demand has slowed compared with last year’s strong season.

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“Occupancy is lower by 10% to 15% and prices are also reduced by 10% to 15%,” he said.

Licensing Remains A Challenge

Karakontis said the number of short-term rental properties listed on digital platforms has remained broadly stable at between 12,000 and 15,000, but only around 8,500 are licensed by the Deputy Tourism Ministry.

He said the sector’s main challenge is the absence of a direct link between the official licensing register and platforms such as Airbnb and Booking.com, allowing some unlicensed properties to remain listed.

According to Karakontis, proposed legislative changes would enable platforms to verify registration numbers in real time and remove listings operating without valid licences.

Calls For Better Coordination

Karakontis also questioned coordination between public authorities following the collapse of an apartment building in Yermasoyia, where one of the units had reportedly been used for short-term accommodation.

He argued that authorities should share information on buildings deemed unsuitable for use rather than introduce additional administrative requirements for operators.

Housing Debate

Responding to criticism that short-term rentals are driving up housing costs, Karakontis said most growth in the sector has been concentrated in tourist areas, including Famagusta and Paphos. He added that stronger enforcement against illegal rentals should remain the industry’s priority.

Cyprus is accelerating the rollout of electricity storage as the Transmission System Operator (TSO) advances new infrastructure alongside private-sector projects aimed at strengthening grid stability and supporting the island’s energy transition.

Storage Capacity Expands

According to the Cyprus News Agency, the TSO has issued preliminary connection terms for stand-alone battery storage projects with a combined capacity of more than 200 MW and around 500 MWh of storage.

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Connection terms have also been granted for hybrid solar-and-battery projects totalling 29 MW and approximately 100 MWh of storage capacity.

As an isolated electricity system, Cyprus increasingly relies on storage to balance supply and demand, particularly as renewable generation expands. Battery systems can absorb excess solar power during peak production and feed it back into the grid when demand rises.

Public Storage Projects Advance

Separately, the TSO has awarded a tender for the supply and installation of three grid-scale battery storage systems with a combined capacity of 120 MW and 400 MWh, following regulatory approval for privately owned storage facilities connected to the transmission network.

The systems are expected to help stabilize the grid, reduce renewable energy curtailment and improve the reliability of electricity supply.

Next Steps

The operating framework for the facilities is still being finalised, with privately owned storage projects expected to receive priority in market participation.

Once Cyprus completes its electricity interconnection with other European Union member states, ownership of the TSO’s storage assets is expected to be transferred through an open tender process, paving the way for broader market participation.

Eurobank has been named Cyprus’ Best Bank for 2026 by Euromoney, while also receiving the award for Best Bank for Large Corporates at the publication’s latest Awards for Excellence.

Merger Marks A Milestone

The awards recognise the bank’s performance during 2025, a year marked by the completion of the legal merger between Hellenic Bank and Eurobank Cyprus. The transaction created Eurobank Limited, which the group says is now Cyprus’ largest banking and insurance organisation, with assets exceeding €28 billion.

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Euromoney’s Awards for Excellence evaluate banks’ performance over the previous calendar year, with this edition covering January 1 to December 31, 2025.

Lending, Customers And Digital Growth

Eurobank said its business lending portfolio expanded by around 17 per cent during 2025, while its customer base grew to more than 710,000 retail clients and 11,500 business customers.

The bank also continued its digital expansion, saying more than 96 per cent of transactions are now completed through digital channels, and most financing applications are submitted via its mobile app.

Expanding International Presence

Eurobank also highlighted the opening of its first representative office in India, describing the move as a step toward strengthening business links between Cyprus and India while supporting Cyprus’ role as a gateway to the European Union for Indian businesses and investors.

According to the bank, Euromoney recognised not only the successful completion of the merger but also its lending growth, digital transformation and contribution to Cyprus’ position as an international business and investment hub.

CEO On The Awards

“The Euromoney awards confirm Eurobank’s strong momentum and the successful implementation of our group’s strategy in Cyprus,” Chief Executive Michalis Louis said.

He said the merger strengthened the bank’s ability to support households, businesses and the wider economy, while highlighting continued investment in digital services and the opening of the representative office in India as key milestones during the year.

Cyprus’ tourism sector is showing signs of renewed stability, even as June arrivals slipped 1.7% year on year, according to Deputy Minister of Tourism Kostas Koumis, who said the latest figures point to a market that has now returned to a steadier path.

The comments followed the release of new data from the Cyprus Statistical Service (Cystat), which showed that 489,965 tourists visited the island in June 2026, down from 498,527 in the same month last year.

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A Softer First Half, But Not A Break in Momentum

For the January-to-June period, Cyprus recorded 1,656,015 tourist arrivals, representing a 10.1% decline from 1,843,013 in the first half of 2025. Even so, Koumis argued that the underlying picture was more resilient than the headline decline suggests.

He described June as “satisfactory under the circumstances,” saying it confirmed that the tourism sector had moved back onto a stable trajectory after a difficult spring. In particular, he pointed to the weaker performance in March and April, when the conflict in the Middle East weighed on travel demand and disrupted normal seasonal patterns.

“It also confirms that the actions taken by the deputy ministry, together with the entire tourism industry, to manage the extraordinary situation our country’s tourism sector faced from March 1 onwards have clearly produced improved results,” Koumis said.

Reading Beyond The Headline Numbers

The deputy minister also argued that the first-half performance, while down year on year, should be viewed in context. Arrivals in the first six months of 2026 were still 0.2% higher than during the same period in 2024, suggesting that the market has not lost its broader momentum.

“If we take into account the very significant losses recorded during March and April, which heavily influence any analysis, the first-half performance should also be considered satisfactory,” he said. “At the same time, a window of hope is opening for a further reduction in the overall decline for the current year.”

Targeted Support For Key Markets

Koumis said the government is now focusing on a deeper analysis of market trends rather than relying solely on overall arrival figures. That review, he added, has identified several geographic markets that have been affected and still require support to sustain long-term growth.

“As a government, and as the competent deputy ministry, we are certainly not stopping at simply reading the numbers,” he said. “A thorough analysis shows that several geographical markets have been affected and still require careful support to ensure their successful and uninterrupted development in the coming years.”

According to Cystat, the United Kingdom remained Cyprus’ largest source market in June, accounting for 33.0% of arrivals, or 161,913 visitors.

Looking Ahead To Next Year

Koumis said planning is already underway for the years ahead, with next year at the centre of the government’s coordination efforts with the tourism industry.

“We are continuing to work hard on planning for the coming years, with next year naturally at the centre of our efforts, in cooperation with the country’s tourism industry,” he said. “Our ultimate objective remains the continuation of our collective effort to transform Cyprus into a sustainable, digitally smart and accessible destination for everyone.”

The Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Keve) has welcomed Parliament’s unanimous approval of legislation establishing the Cyprus Business Development Organisation, describing it as a major step toward improving access to finance for small and medium-sized enterprises, startups and self-employed professionals.

Expanding Access To Finance

The legislation creates a new public body aimed at addressing financing gaps by supporting businesses that struggle to secure funding through traditional channels.

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According to Keve, the initiative could strengthen entrepreneurship, boost competitiveness and support Cyprus’ green and digital transition. The chamber has long argued that SMEs rely too heavily on bank financing, limiting investment, expansion and innovation.

Keve Calls For Swift Implementation

Keve said it helped shape the legislation through the consultation process and called for the organisation to become operational as quickly as possible. It also pledged to continue working with the Finance Ministry and the organisation’s management to support implementation.

How The Organisation Will Operate

Approved by Parliament on Tuesday, the legislation establishes Cyprus’ national business development body under the supervision of the Finance Minister, while the Central Bank of Cyprus will oversee anti-money laundering compliance.

The organisation will design financing programmes, provide loans and conduct studies to identify weaknesses in the financing market.

Cyprus will provide €60 million in initial capital. Over time, the body will also be able to raise funding from European and international institutions and benefit from state guarantees linked to approved strategic priorities.

Recovery Plan Milestone

Creation of the organisation is one of the final milestones under Cyprus’ Recovery and Resilience Plan and is required for the country to receive the plan’s ninth and final payment. Appointment of the board of directors remains the last outstanding step.

Before approving the bill, the Finance Ministry revised the draft following consultations with MPs and stakeholders. The changes removed provisions allowing the organisation to establish companies and narrowed the list of eligible beneficiaries by excluding small mid-cap companies.

Lawmakers also strengthened governance rules by introducing stricter board suitability requirements, conflict-of-interest safeguards, enhanced reporting obligations and borrowing limits. A seven-member board appointed by the Cabinet will oversee the organisation, while a transitional board will serve for two years until it becomes fully operational.

Travel startup Fora has raised $60 million in fresh Series D funding, lifting the company to a $1 billion valuation and underscoring investor conviction in a business model built around the modernization of travel advising.

A Platform Built For Both Sides Of The Market

Founded in 2021, Fora operates a two-sided platform designed to streamline the travel planning process. On one side, it gives aspiring travel advisors the tools and infrastructure to start selling trips, including client communications and itinerary management. On the other, it helps travelers find and work with advisors for trips ranging from honeymoons to family vacations in destinations such as Costa Rica and Thailand.

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The latest round was led by Forerunner and Tactile Ventures, with participation from Insight Partners and Thrive Capital. Fora said it has now raised $138.5 million to date.

AI Is Being Positioned As A Force Multiplier

Part of the new capital will go toward expanding Via, Fora’s AI assistant, which is built to handle repetitive administrative work such as research and itinerary creation. The company’s goal is not to replace human advisors, but to make them more productive by freeing up time for higher-value work, including relationship building and client service.

That strategy reflects a broader enterprise logic now shaping AI adoption across industries: automation is most valuable when it removes low-leverage tasks and amplifies skilled human labor, rather than attempting a full replacement.

Growth Is Coming From New Talent And Rising Demand

Fora said agents on its platform have booked more than $3 billion in travel since launch, with most of those advisors coming into the business without prior travel-industry experience. That is a notable signal for a category historically limited by barriers to entry and fragmented tooling.

The company also plans to use the new funding to expand into adjacent travel categories, including cruises and flights, as it looks to deepen its role in the broader travel ecosystem.

Beehiiv is expanding beyond newsletters with the launch of Community, a new feature that lets subscribers interact directly on the platform, and Copilot, an AI assistant designed to help creators grow their audiences and improve performance.

The additions are part of the company’s broader effort to position itself as an all-in-one platform for creators.

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Expanding Beyond Newsletters

Over recent months, Beehiiv has introduced podcasts, webinars and customizable paywalls as it broadens its product offering. According to the company, half of creators using its podcast tools migrated from other platforms.

Bringing Communities In-House

Community allows publishers to host discussion forums, chat rooms and paid membership spaces without relying on third-party platforms such as Discord, Slack or Facebook Groups.

Beehiiv CEO Tyler Denk told TechCrunch that audiences often share common interests but have limited opportunities to interact with one another. The feature is intended to strengthen engagement while giving creators greater control over their communities.

New AI And Monetization Tools

Beehiiv also introduced Copilot, an AI assistant that analyzes audience behaviour, subscriber trends and content performance to recommend ways to grow publications and increase revenue. It can review newsletter and podcast performance, draft outreach campaigns and identify monetization opportunities.

The company is also expanding its advertising tools with programmatic ads that match campaigns to audiences based on relevance and performance. Beehiiv said publishers on its platform now generate more than $1 million in monthly revenue through its advertising network.

Earlier this year, Beehiiv launched an MCP server that connects the platform with AI assistants including ChatGPT and Claude, while also investing in Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) to improve newsletter visibility in AI-generated responses.

Product Updates Continue

The company is also rolling out a redesigned editor with side-by-side editing and preview modes. Denk said Beehiiv’s next priority is helping creators adopt the platform’s expanding set of tools through additional education and guidance.

Beehiiv’s latest releases come as competition in the creator economy intensifies. Rivals are also broadening their offerings, with Riverside adding newsletter publishing and Substack launching a built-in recording studio earlier this year.

The euro area’s trade balance slipped back into deficit in May 2026 as a sharp rise in imports outpaced largely flat export growth, reversing the €15.0 billion surplus recorded a year earlier, according to Eurostat.

Imports Outpace Exports

Exports edged up just 0.1% year on year to €243.6 billion in May, while imports jumped 10.0% to €251.4 billion. The result was a monthly trade deficit of €7.8 billion, compared with a deficit of €1.2 billion in April and a €15.0 billion surplus in May 2025.

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Eurostat attributed the deterioration mainly to a wider energy trade deficit and smaller surpluses in key manufacturing sectors, including machinery, vehicles and chemicals.

The broader European Union followed the same trend, recording a €12.1 billion trade deficit in May, compared with a €12.7 billion surplus a year earlier.

External Trade Weakens

Extra-EU exports fell 1.1% to €215.7 billion, while imports from outside the bloc rose 10.8% to €227.8 billion.

For the first five months of 2026, the euro area’s trade surplus narrowed to €3.3 billion from €78.7 billion in the same period of 2025. During that period, exports declined 2.8%, while trade between euro area countries increased 3.3% to €1.16 trillion.

Across the EU, the January-to-May balance shifted to a €15.9 billion deficit from a €70.1 billion surplus a year earlier.

Downtrend Continues

Seasonally adjusted data also pointed to weaker trade performance. In May, the euro area’s trade balance stood at a €5.0 billion deficit, while the EU recorded a €9.0 billion deficit, both larger than in April.

Although trade within the single market continued to grow, rising imports from outside the bloc continued to weigh on the euro area’s external balance.

Preventing homelessness and expanding access to affordable housing topped the agenda in Brussels this week as the European Parliament’s Employment and Social Affairs Committee (EMPL) discussed new EU measures to tackle housing exclusion.

The debate comes as Cyprus continues to report a lower-than-average risk of poverty and social exclusion, despite growing housing pressures across Europe.

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Housing Rises On The EU Agenda

The committee focused on preventing homelessness, supporting people in insecure housing and expanding social and affordable housing.

EMPL Chair Li Andersson said homelessness should be treated not only as a housing issue but also as a matter of social inclusion and prevention. Although housing policy remains largely a national responsibility, she said the EU can support member states through coordination and the sharing of best practices.

Ciaran Mullooly, vice-chair of Parliament’s housing committee, said the proposal, presented alongside the EU’s first anti-poverty strategy, reflects the growing importance of housing within European social policy.

He noted that 92.7 million people, or 20.9% of the EU population, were at risk of poverty or social exclusion in 2025, while around one million people were homeless. House prices have risen by more than 60% across the EU over the past decade, while rents have increased by more than 20%.

The proposal promotes early intervention, eviction prevention, Housing First policies and greater investment in social and affordable housing. It also calls for stronger support for vulnerable groups and would introduce five-year reviews to monitor progress.

Cyprus Remains Below The EU Average

According to the latest Eurostat data, 17.1% of Cyprus’ population, or around 167,000 people, were at risk of poverty or social exclusion in 2025, compared with the EU average of 20.9%.

Women remained more exposed than men, while severe material and social deprivation fell to 2.2%. Cyprus also recorded the EU’s second-lowest child poverty or social exclusion rate at 14.8%, although older people continued to face a significantly higher risk than the EU average.

The debate reflects a broader shift in EU policy, with housing affordability increasingly viewed as a social challenge requiring earlier intervention and stronger public support, rather than solely a housing market issue.

Parliament Approves Cyprus Business Development Agency

Cyprus’ House of Representatives unanimously approved legislation on Tuesday establishing the Cyprus Business Development Agency (KOAE), following the adoption of several amendments proposed by lawmakers.

The agency is intended to improve access to finance for small and medium-sized enterprises, startups and self-employed professionals, helping address longstanding funding gaps in the market.

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Approval of the legislation also enables the government to unlock between €50 million and €69 million from the Recovery and Resilience Fund.

What Changes

One of the key amendments, jointly proposed by DISY, DIKO and the ALMA movement, requires the criteria governing the agency’s maximum financing exposure, including lending to connected enterprises, to be set through regulations approved by Parliament.

The amendment strengthens parliamentary oversight while providing a clearer governance framework for the agency.

Parliament Backs Bill After Debate

Although the bill received unanimous support, several MPs criticised the government for submitting it only on June 25, leaving Parliament with limited time to examine the legislation.

DISY MP Savia Orphanidou said lawmakers had completed their review in the national interest, stressing that easier access to finance is essential for the sustainability of businesses. She also welcomed safeguards added during parliamentary scrutiny, including the planned €60 million capital allocation through 2030.

AKEL MP Andreas Pasiourtidis said the agency should prioritise very small businesses and welcomed provisions strengthening board governance, annual reporting to Parliament and disclosure requirements relating to politically exposed persons.

DIKO MP and House Finance Committee Chair Christiana Erotokritou said similar institutions have operated successfully in other countries for years, adding that the legislation now includes modern safeguards to ensure responsible use of public funds.

Meanwhile, Giannis Laouris of Direct Democracy noted that Cyprus is the only EU member state without a dedicated institution supporting small businesses. He warned that failure to pass the bill would have put between €50 million and €69 million in Recovery and Resilience funding at risk, while maintaining reservations about establishing KOAE as a semi-state organisation.

Why It Matters

The new agency is expected to expand financing options for businesses that often struggle to secure bank financing due to limited collateral or short credit histories.

If implemented effectively, KOAE could strengthen Cyprus’ SME ecosystem, improve access to capital for startups and self-employed professionals, and help convert Recovery and Resilience funding into long-term economic growth.