Around 800 Unlicensed Hotels Identified in Cyprus

Approximately 800 unlicensed accommodation establishments have been identified in the Republic of Cyprus. The country has proposed extending the deadline for submitting applications to obtain licenses.

The Parliamentary Committee on Energy, Trade, Industry, and Tourism discussed the draft law proposed by the Deputy Ministry of Tourism regarding the extension of the initial deadline provided to unlicensed hotels and tourist accommodation establishments to obtain licenses. The obligation to license tourist accommodation establishments is proposed to be extended by two years.

During the session, the committee chairman, DISY parliament member Kyriakos Hadjiyiannis, stated that the tourism industry is almost completely lacking legitimacy and called for measures to address this issue.

According to the committee chairman, around 800 establishments are operating without a license. Only 65 such establishments have the corresponding permission.

The committee chairman noted that the government has recently passed a law extending licensing for two years, questioning the feasibility of such an approach. According to the politician, instead of blindly extending, the government should present a comprehensive licensing plan for all these tourism activities.

"This law must be adopted because we cannot shut down 800 tourism businesses simultaneously," concluded the parliamentarian.

During the session, the need to develop a tourism development plan for the Tellyria region was also discussed, and an evaluation of the Christmas village program was conducted.