The government and Cyprus’s hotel industry are in a race against time to agree on a wage subsidy scheme before the tourist season officially opens tomorrow, with the Labour Ministry expected to announce details on Wednesday and hotel associations signalling reservations about both the scheme’s conditions and the level of support on offer.
The scheme — part of the €100 million support package announced by President Christodoulides — would provide a 30% subsidy on the wages of hotel workers for units operating throughout April 2026. A separate scheme to support airlines and maintain connectivity to key tourist source markets was also included in the package. The Labour Ministry’s scheme will be voluntary, meaning it must be designed in a way that persuades as many hoteliers as possible to participate.
A broad meeting was held yesterday at the Deputy Ministry of Tourism, attended by the Finance and Labour Ministers, the Deputy Minister of Tourism, the Director General of the Ministry of Transport, Government Spokesperson Konstantinos Letymbiotis and Deputy Minister to the President Irene Piki, alongside the Cyprus Hotels Associations (PASYXE) and the Association of Cyprus Tourist Enterprises (STEK). The associations expressed reservations about the operating conditions attached to the scheme and about the subsidy percentage.
Hotels officially begin operating tomorrow, Wednesday 1 April, though a number are expected to open on 6 April. The government wants to send a signal that all hotels are open for business. The risk is that some hoteliers, if they reject the scheme, may decide not to open at all — a scenario that would leave workers redundant and deliver a damaging message about Cyprus as a tourist destination at the worst possible moment.
STEK president Akis Vavlitis said yesterday he expected all hotels to be open by 15 April at the latest, while acknowledging that the fluid situation made predictions risky. He said booking cancellations had fallen to almost normal levels — a positive sign — but that the low flow of new summer bookings remained a concern.
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