President Nikos Christodoulides declared on Friday that Cyprus will settle all technical matters required to become a member of the Schengen Union by 2025. "We have already addressed the political aspects of the matter," he continued.

Due to their lack of land borders with other EU nations, Cyprus and Ireland continue to be the only EU members outside the Schengen area. Christodoulides emphasised the advantages Schengen membership would offer Cyprus, especially in the areas of investment and tourism, when speaking at the "Beyond Sea and Sun" conference in Nicosia, which was hosted by Hermes Airports.

“We have addressed all political concerns regarding the ceasefire line and are now finalising the technical details required for accession,” he said. A dedicated team at the foreign ministry is overseeing this process.

Almost 420 million people live in 29 countries that make up the Schengen region, which is more than 4 million square kilometres in size. In addition to all members of the European Free Trade Association (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland), this also covers 25 of the 27 EU countries, Croatia (since 2023), Bulgaria, and Romania (as of January 2025). The European Council claims that Ireland is not a member of Schengen and that internal border controls with Cyprus are still in effect.

Christodoulides added that Cyprus is nearing the end of removing the need for Cypriots to have a US visa in order to travel. There will be announcements soon regarding the anticipated visit of a US delegation to Cyprus.

The president talked about initiatives to improve travel, such as establishing new embassies in Kazakhstan and Armenia to increase the number of tourists. By drawing tourists from the US and India, these initiatives hope to make up for the decline in Russian visitors.

He pointed to Poland as an illustration of effective diversification, pointing out that it has grown to be the second-largest tourist destination in Cyprus, behind the United Kingdom.

Christodoulides connected foreign policy to tourism, noting that labour, economic, cultural, and educational policies all had an impact on the sector.

“I believe it is important to have strong ties with all neighbouring countries, which are a source of tourism,” he said and referred specifically to Israel.

He specifically highlighted Israel, noting that political cooperation has addressed the tendency of Israeli tourists to visit the north.

In the meantime, he said, young people should turn to the tourism sector for careers.

The president encouraged young Cypriots to pursue careers in tourism, emphasising that visitors prefer interacting with locals, which fosters stronger bonds between tourists and the community.

To support this, the government is promoting technical schools to attract more young people to the industry.

Investments were also being made in Troodos, which lacked tourism infrastructure, he said.

Cultural tourism was also getting a push, as was sports tourism, with Fiba 2025 and marathons being hosted by Cyprus.

He also highlighted Cyprus’ upcoming EU presidency in 2026, which is expected to attract 200,000 visitors and has spurred discussions on direct flights between Larnaca and Brussels.

As regards results so far, Christodoulides said 2024 was a record year for tourism, as Cyprus broke the 4 million tourist barrier and recorded a revenue of around €3 billion, which contributed 13.5 per cent to the country’s GDP, up from 12.8 per cent in 2023.

Airports saw 10.5 million travellers and Cyprus has been included among the 30 best destinations, a strong indication of Cyprus’ resilience and prospects for tourism, he said.

Christodoulides said cooperation between the public and private sector in tourism was important.

He also referred to investments in airports and the recent agreement with Hermes Airports to expand them, which indicated the increase in demand.

“Cyprus’ airports today cannot be compared to those 20 or 30 years ago – we used to have 20 airlines and today we have about 55,” he added.