Press Releases

Tourist Arrivals +17,9% and Returns of Residents of Cyprus +14,5%

Tourist Arrivals

The arrivals of tourists reached 487.350 in September 2023 compared to 413.382 in September 2022, recording an increase of 17,9%.

For the period of January – September 2023, arrivals of tourists totaled 3.136.145 compared to 2.540.554 in the corresponding period of 2022, recording an increase of 23,4%.

Arrivals from the United Kingdom were the main source of tourism for September 2023, with a share of 34,0% (165.869) of total arrivals, followed by Israel with 11,7% (57.088), Poland with 6,7% (32.530), Germany with 5,5% (26.907) and Sweden with 4,6% (22.196).

For a percentage of 84,1% of tourists, the purpose of their trip in September 2023 was holidays, for 10,3% visit to friends and relatives and for 5,5% business. Respectively, in September 2022, 86,1% of tourists visited Cyprus for holidays, 9,1% visited friends or relatives and 4,7% visited Cyprus for business reasons (Table).

Returns of Residents of Cyprus

A total number of 140.187 residents of Cyprus returned from a trip abroad in September 2023 compared to 122.450 in the corresponding month last year, recording an increase of 14,5%.

The main countries from which residents of Cyprus returned in September 2023 were Greece with a share of 37,1% (51.983), the United Kingdom with 8,2% (11.488), Italy with 4,7% (6.556) and Russia with 4,0% (5.597).

The purpose of travel for the residents of Cyprus in September 2023 was mainly holidays, with a percentage of 76,1%, whilst business reasons held a percentage of 19,7%, studies 2,5% and other reasons 1,7%.

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.

Residents of Cyprus - This category includes persons who have resided in Cyprus for at least 12 months or who have come to Cyprus with the intention of staying for at least 12 months, prior to their travel.

Source of Data and Coverage

The data is obtained from the Passengers Survey, which is carried out at the points of arrival in Larnaka and Pafos airports. Additionally, data is also collected from administrative sources, such as the monthly arrivals from ports.

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

For more information visit the CYSTAT Portal, subtheme Tourism, CYSTAT-DB (Online Database), Predefined Tables (Excel), Methodological Information or contact Ms Lucy Panayidou at telephone 22602152 or via e-mail at lpanagidou@cystat.mof.gov.cy.

(AP/ECHR)