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Cyprus Set To Surpass Record Tourism Revenues In 2025

Robust Growth in Tourism Sector

Cyprus’ tourism industry is on track to exceed last year’s record revenues and arrivals as it reports the strongest growth among its Euro-Mediterranean peers in the first half of 2025. According to recent data, tourism revenues increased by 21.3 percent year-on-year in the first six months, climbing to €1.38 billion from €1.14 billion in the comparable period of 2024.

Monthly Surge In Revenue

The momentum extended into June, where tourism earnings surged by 9.6 percent, reaching €422.3 million. This monthly performance underscores the steady and robust economic contributions of the tourism sector.

Positive Trends In Per Capita Spending

Visitor spending has also seen notable increases. In June, per capita expenditure rose by 6 percent to €847. British tourists, making up 36.4 percent of arrivals, spent an average of €103.92 per day. Meanwhile, Polish visitors, accounting for 7.3 percent of the market, spent €90.91 daily, and Israeli tourists, the third largest group at 6.1 percent, spent €149.44 per day.

Leading Among Euro-Mediterranean Competitors

Cyprus outperformed its regional peers with the highest revenue growth rate in Europe. Its first-half growth of 21.3 percent surpassed that of Malta at 21.1 percent, Greece at 11 percent, Spain at 8 percent, Turkey at 7.4 percent, and Italy at 5.7 percent. Notably, the growth was even higher at 27.2 percent over the first five months of 2025.

Government Optimism And Economic Impact

Deputy Minister of Tourism, Costas Koumis, emphasized the critical role tourism plays in Cyprus’ economy. “Tourism was and remains one of the most important pillars of our country’s economy,” he stated, noting that 2024 experienced record levels in both arrivals and revenues—a trend expected to continue this year. Koumis further highlighted that advanced tourist economies are now focusing on revenue generation to better illustrate tourism’s significant contribution to national economic stability.

Future Prospects

With last year’s tourism sector contributing over €3 billion to the national economy, the early indicators of 2025 suggest that Cyprus is poised for another stellar performance. The substantial revenue growth observed so far is expected to escalate further, reinforcing the strategic importance of tourism for both businesses and local communities.

Cypriot Startup LIVIA Wins Europe’s Top Youth Entrepreneurship Competition

A Cypriot university team has won the European GEN-E 2026 youth entrepreneurship competition with LIVIA, a smart agriculture platform that combines satellite data, autonomous drones and artificial intelligence to help farmers improve irrigation, detect disease earlier and reduce pesticide use.

Alongside first place, the team received the FedEx Access Award, expanding its access to investors, entrepreneurs and industry experts across Europe.

Initially developed for vineyards, LIVIA analyses individual plants and turns complex data into practical recommendations. The team is now preparing its first functional product and pilot projects in Cyprus, with plans to expand into additional crops and international markets.

From An Idea To Smart Agriculture

LIVIA began with a simple question: how could satellite data create practical value in everyday life? After exploring applications ranging from meteorology to marine biology, the team identified agriculture as the sector with the greatest potential.

Recognising the limitations of satellite imagery alone, particularly in resolution and update frequency, the founders integrated autonomous drones into the platform to provide more detailed field data.

Designed as a modular system, LIVIA can continuously incorporate new data sources and capabilities. Its initial focus is irrigation management, early disease detection and plant health monitoring, with vineyards serving as the first use case because of their importance to Cyprus and the team’s own experience.

Turning Data Into Decisions

Satellite imagery provides continuous monitoring of crops, while autonomous drones capture high-resolution images whenever greater precision is needed.

Artificial intelligence then combines those datasets with information collected by growers, including IoT sensors and field observations, to generate tailored recommendations for irrigation, disease prevention and resource management.

By analysing each plant individually, the platform enables precision agriculture rather than field-wide recommendations.

Building A Hardware And Software Startup

Developing LIVIA has required balancing advanced software with specialised hardware, including drones, multispectral cameras and charging stations, all while operating with limited resources.

Although the startup participates in the Bank of Cyprus IDEA programme and has secured non-equity funding, integrating multiple data sources into a reliable AI system remains its biggest technical challenge.

The Role Of Junior Achievement

Participation in the JA StartUp Programme helped transform the original concept into a business proposition through mentoring, coaching and pitch preparation.

Support continued after LIVIA won the national competition, with the Junior Achievement Cyprus team helping the founders prepare for the European final in Latvia.

European Recognition

Winning GEN-E 2026 and the FedEx Access Award marked the team’s biggest milestone to date and created new opportunities to connect with investors, entrepreneurs and industry experts across Europe.

The founders are now focused on completing their minimum viable product, launching pilot projects in Cyprus and expanding the platform to new crops and international markets.

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