George Low, from Dartford, was attacked by two men and stabbed in the neck in the early hours of Sunday while out in the resort of Ayia Napa.
His friend, who is also 22, was stabbed four times in the back. He is expected to make a full recovery.
Tributes have been paid on social media with Niamh Rose writing: "Rest in peace George Low you've touched the lives of so many."
She added: "My thoughts go out to your family."
Another friend, Ollie Ellis, wrote on Facebook: "Last night we lost one amazing member of the Ayia Napa family and a very good friend of mine.
"Words can't describe how much of a shock this is.
"You have been taken from us in one of the worst possible ways."
The Foreign Office said it was providing support to Mr Low's family.
The suspects were described by Cyprus Police as young. The first was "short, chubby" and wore jeans and a white shirt while the second was also said to be short, with short black hair and was naked from the waist up.
Famagusta District Assistant Police Chief Georgios Economou said witnesses described the two suspects as appearing to be foreign nationals.
Investigators have been able to track some of the suspects' movements through CCTV cameras, he said, adding that authorities at all airports, ports and crossing points into the breakaway Turkish Cypriot north of the ethnically divided island have been warned to lookout for the suspects.
Mr Economou added that the two victims had worked during the previous two years in bars and clubs in the area but the wounded Briton told investigators that he and Mr Low had been on holiday this time.
A GoFundMe page, set up by friends to help pay for his funeral, has so far raised Â£5,000.
A 22-year-old man from Kent has been stabbed to death in Cyprus.