Press Releases

Tourist Arrivals -2,7% and Returns of Residents of Cyprus -2,1% 

Tourist Arrivals

The arrivals of tourists reached 333.563 in April 2024 compared to 342.736 in April 2023, recording a decrease of 2,7%. 

For the period of January – April 2024, arrivals of tourists totaled 748.814 compared to 736.629 in the corresponding period of 2023, recording an increase of 1,7%.

Arrivals from the United Kingdom were the main source of tourism for April 2024, with a share of 35,3% (117.902) of total arrivals, followed by Israel with 10,7% (35.673), Poland with 7,6% (25.250), Germany with 6,7% (22.510) and Greece with 3,9% (13.056). 

For a percentage of 82,1% of tourists, the purpose of their trip in April 2024 was holidays, for 9,4% visit to friends and relatives and for 8,3% business. Respectively, in April 2023, 79,3% of tourists visited Cyprus for holidays, 14,5% visited friends or relatives and 6,0% visited Cyprus for business reasons (Table).

Returns of Residents of Cyprus

A total number of 132.806 residents of Cyprus returned from a trip abroad in April 2024 compared to 135.659 in the corresponding month last year, recording a decrease of 2,1%.

The main countries from which residents of Cyprus returned in April 2024 were Greece with a share of 35,7% (47.441), the United Kingdom with 9,6% (12.749) and Italy with 6,0% (7.907).

The purpose of travel for the residents of Cyprus in April 2024 was mainly holidays, with a percentage of 61,1%, whilst business reasons held a percentage of 22,1%, studies 15,4% and other reasons 1,4%.

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 are obtained from the Passengers Survey which is carried out at the points of arrival in Larnaka and Pafos airports. Additionally, data are 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 travellers 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 Lucy Panayidou at 22602152 or via e-mail: lpanagidou@cystat.mof.gov.cy.

(NZ/GS)