The major UK travel organizers are expected to increase their winter programs to our country to a satisfactory extent, said the Deputy Minister of Tourism Kostas Koumis at the KYPE at the conclusion of the World Tourism Fair (WTM) in London.
This year's show, which celebrated its 45th anniversary, brought together more than 40,000 tourism professionals from over 180 countries, confirming the British capital's leading role as a global hub for the travel industry.
The Deputy Minister of Tourism held dozens of meetings with the protagonists of world tourism, who are also strategic partners of Cyprus.
"The messages I would say are only positive as the high traffic has brought record performances which are sure to continue in 2026. What is now more important for us is to increase the traffic during the winter season as well. I think that during the summer season we have now reached the absolute," said Mr. Koumis, among others, to KYPE.
A fact, he noted, "that the statistics also testify to".
According to him, "it is characteristic that only from the British market from January to September the increase in tourist traffic in 2025 compared to 2024 was 5.2%, compared to 2023, 10.4% and compared to 2022, 19.2%".
At the same time, the Deputy Minister of Tourism emphasized to KYPE that "during our meetings with the strategic partners of Cyprus, we placed special emphasis on how winter tourism can be developed in 2026".
"However, the messages we received on this issue are optimistic, in the sense that at least the big travel organizers are expected to increase, to a satisfactory extent, their winter programs to our country".
It is worth noting that a total of over 70 sessions and panels were held during the exhibition, with the participation of international tourism personalities, executives of airline and hotel groups, as well as experts in fields such as artificial intelligence and sustainable infrastructure.
Mr. Koumis participated in several of them such as the session on "Rethinking Investment Models in Tourism: Creating New Generation Incentives", while among the meetings he held was with his Serbian counterpart Husein Memić.
At the center of the discussions at the exhibition were the challenges and opportunities of tourism in the next decade: the green transition, technological innovation and adaptation to new travel habits after the pandemic.
According to the organizers, this year's exhibition was the largest in its history, thanks to the recent expansion of ExCeL's exhibition space by 25%. This fact allowed the participation of hundreds of new exhibitors and companies.
