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On the basis of the results of the Passengers Survey, arrivals of tourists reached 105.592 in February 2020, remaining constant compared to February 2019, when they reached 105.571.

Analysis of changes

Tourist arrivals from Israel increased by 24,8% in February 2020 compared to February 2019, while an increase of 85,3% was also recorded for tourists from Ukraine. Contrary to that, a decrease of 8,7% in tourist arrivals from the United Kingdom, 16,5% decrease from Greece and 13,7% from Russia were recorded. Percentage changes from one year to the next for the main countries of usual residence of tourists are presented in Table 1.

Main countries

The United Kingdom constitutes the main source of tourism for Cyprus for February 2020, with a proportion of 32,0%, while arrivals from Greece comprise 9,5% of total arrivals, from Israel 9,4% and from Russia 7,6% (Table 2).

Purpose of visit

For a percentage of 60,7% of tourists, the purpose of their trip in February 2020 was holidays, for 21,4% visit to friends and relatives and for 17,8% business (Table 3).

Methodological notes

Definitions

Tourists – Visitors who stay for at least one night in Cyprus.

Tourist arrivals – The term refers to the number of trips and not to the number of persons. This differs in the sense that one person can take more than one trips during the reference period.

Source of data and coverage

The data are obtained from the Passengers Survey which is conducted in the arrivals and departures halls in the airports of Larnaka and Pafos, as well as from administrative sources such as the monthly arrivals at ports.

The survey covers all persons who pass through passport control at the ports and airports in the Government controlled area of Cyprus. It does not include travelers who arrive and depart illegally via ports and airports in the occupied part of Cyprus.

The weighting of data is conducted based on the data sent to the Statistical Service by the Civil Aviation Department and from the ship manifests, as well as data sent by the Analysis and Statistics Office of the Cyprus Police.

For more information visit the Statistical Service (CYSTAT) website, subtheme Tourism or contact Ms Lucy Panayidou: tel.:+35722602152, e-mail: lpanagidou@cystat.mof.gov.cy

(EK/SCH)