Association of Cyprus Tourist Enterprises
Cyprus's hotel and tourism-enterprise trade body, lobbying the government to cap short-let rentals.
On 15 July, Association of Cyprus Tourist Enterprises asked Cyprus's government for an annual cap, inspections, fines and an overnight levy on short-let rentals, citing 12,000 to 15,000 advertised properties against just 8,500 licensed.
Last refreshed: 28 July 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
Why is Cyprus's hotel lobby asking for the same short-let caps tenant campaigners want?
Timeline for Association of Cyprus Tourist Enterprises
Asked government for a short-let cap while publishing data showing the sector contracting
Nomads & Communities: Cyprus hotel lobby seeks cap as short-lets slumpAsked the government to impose an annual short-let rental cap
Nomads & Communities: Cyprus hotels lobby to cap short-letsBackground
Association of Cyprus Tourist Enterprises represents Cyprus's licensed hotel operators, giving it a formal voice in disputes over how the island regulates short-term and holiday rentals. Its core interest is protecting licensed accommodation from unregulated competition, which is why its public interventions tend to focus on permitting, inspection and taxation of short-let properties rather than on hotel-specific matters.
Confusingly for outside observers, Cypriot press commonly refers to both this hotel body and a separate short-let operators' association by the same acronym, STEK, even though the two represent opposing commercial interests, licensed hotels versus short-term rental hosts. Anyone tracking Cyprus tourism policy needs to establish which STEK is being quoted before treating a statement as representative of hoteliers.
The organisation's influence stems from the scale mismatch it highlights between licensed and unlicensed accommodation in Cyprus, a gap regulators have yet to close and one that keeps the hotel lobby engaged with government over enforcement policy.
STEK demands a short-let clampdown
On 15 July, Association of Cyprus Tourist Enterprises put a formal request to government: an annual cap on short-let permits, routine inspections, fines for breaches and an overnight levy on stays booked outside licensed hotels. The lobby represents Cyprus's licensed hotel sector, and its intervention followed licensing data showing only 8,500 registered short-let properties against an estimated 12,000 to 15,000 units advertised online, a gap it wants closed through enforcement rather than expanded permits.
Three days later, on 18 July, a separate short-let operators' body cited falling occupancy and prices of 10 to 15 per cent year on year, a decline STEK's proposed levy and cap would likely deepen if adopted. Cypriot media group both organisations under the acronym STEK, though they represent opposing sides of the same market.