Press Releases

Tourist Arrivals +6,4% and Returns of Residents of Cyprus +9,9%

Tourist Arrivals

The arrivals of tourists reached 426.272 in October 2023 compared to 400.628 in October 2022, recording an increase of 6,4%.

For the period of January – October 2023, arrivals of tourists totaled 3.562.417 compared to 2.941.182 in the corresponding period of 2022, recording an increase of 21,1%.

Arrivals from the United Kingdom were the main source of tourism for October 2023, with a share of 36,2% (154.373) of total arrivals, followed by Germany with 7,1% (30.178) and Poland with 6,7% (28.649).

For a percentage of 82,5% of tourists, the purpose of their trip in October 2023 was holidays, for 10,9% visit to friends and relatives and for 6,4% business. Respectively, in October 2022, 83,1% of tourists visited Cyprus for holidays, 11,5% visited friends or relatives and 5,3% visited Cyprus for business reasons (Table).

Returns of Residents of Cyprus

A total number of 131.327 residents of Cyprus returned from a trip abroad in October 2023 compared to 119.466 in the corresponding month last year, recording an increase of 9,9%.

The main countries from which residents of Cyprus returned in October 2023 were Greece with a share of 34,1% (44.795), the United Kingdom with 8,2% (10.751) and Italy with 6,2% (8.176).

The purpose of travel for the residents of Cyprus in October 2023 was mainly holidays, with a percentage of 65,1%, whilst business reasons held a percentage of 30,0%, studies 2,2% and other reasons 2,8%.

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/ASP)