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Cyprus Sees a Surge In Tourism Revenue: February’s Significant Gains And What It Means

In February 2025, Cyprus reported a notable €79.7 million in tourism revenue, reflecting a remarkable 22.4% increase from the same period last year when earnings stood at €65.1 million, according to the latest release by the statistical service.

Year-to-Date Performance

Taking a broader view, the combined revenue for the first two months of 2025 reached €148.9 million, soaring by 35% compared to €110.3 million during the same months in 2024.

Spending Patterns of Tourists

The per capita expenditure for February rose by 14.3%, amounting to €595.71 compared to €521.01 in February 2024. Among the tourists, British visitors, accounting for 24.8% of the arrivals, spent an average of €73.42 per day. Polish tourists made up 15.1% of the total arrivals and spent €71.07 daily. Intriguingly, visitors from Israel had the highest daily spending at €203.06.

Future Prospects

Looking ahead, Harris Papacharalambous, President of Cyprus Travel and Tourism Agents Association, anticipates that a total of 4.25 million tourists will visit Cyprus by the end of the year. The vision for 2026 is to enhance the island’s tourism offerings with innovative changes, turning it into a regional hub for tourism activities, thanks to Cyprus’ strategic geographical position.

For further exploration of Cyprus’s rapid growth and economic potential, read about Cyprus’s fastest-growing tech companies and their global impact.

Anthropic Brings Opus And Sonnet To Claude Voice Mode

Anthropic is expanding Claude’s voice capabilities as competition in AI assistants intensifies, allowing users to choose between its Opus, Sonnet and Haiku models in voice mode. The update comes just weeks after OpenAI introduced a new family of conversational models and refreshed ChatGPT’s voice experience.

A More Capable Voice Experience

Until now, Claude’s voice mode relied exclusively on the Haiku model, prioritizing speed over more complex conversations. With the latest update, users can switch between Opus, Sonnet and Haiku while speaking with Claude, while voice mode automatically defaults to the fastest version of the model most recently used in text chat. The change creates a smoother transition between typing and speaking and is designed to support more demanding tasks, including preparing client presentations, refining communication and brainstorming product ideas, Anthropic said.

Voice That Works Across Apps

Beyond expanding model choice, Anthropic is also extending Claude’s ability to work across third-party services. Voice mode can now connect with Gmail, Google Calendar, Slack, Canva and Notion, allowing users to reschedule meetings, draft emails or create documents without leaving the conversation.

The update also sets Claude apart from many competing voice assistants by extending conversations into workplace tasks through connected applications, rather than focusing solely on natural dialogue.

Multilingual Support

Anthropic has also been broadening Claude’s reach. Earlier this year, the company added beta support for multiple languages, allowing users to speak in English, French, German, Hindi, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese and Spanish, although the language must currently be selected manually. The expansion is aimed at teams operating across multiple regions and languages.

Availability

The updated voice mode is now available in beta across platforms. Free users can access only the Haiku model and connect a single app, while paid subscribers can choose between all three models and use additional integrations.

Anthropic did not announce changes to the underlying voice model or disclose the technology powering the feature. It also did not say whether the update includes improvements to conversational behavior, such as interruption handling.

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