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On the basis of the results of the Passengers Survey, arrivals of tourists reached 169.934 in March 201,9 compared to 192.090 in March 2018, recording a decrease of 11,5%.

For the period of January – March 2019 arrivals of tourists totaled 357.475 compared to 369.438 in the corresponding period of 2018, recording a decrease of 3.2% (Table 1).

Analysis of changes

Tourist arrivals from the United Kingdom decreased by 6.9% in March 2019 compared to March 2018 while a decrease of 8.5% was recorded for tourists from Greece and 36.6% decrease from Germany. Contrary to that, an increase of 10.1% in tourist arrivals from Russia was 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 March 2019, with a proportion of 37.3% while arrivals from Russia comprise 14.7% of total arrivals, from Greece 8.2% and from Germany 7.0% (Table 2).                                                                                                             

Purpose of visit

For a percentage of 70.1% of tourists, the purpose of their trip in March 2019 was holidays, for 16.9% visit to friends and relatives and for 13.0% 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:

Statistical Service (CYSTAT) Website, subtheme Tourism

Contact

Lucy Panayidou: Tel.:+35722602152, E-mail: lpanagidou@cystat.mof.gov.cy 

(ML/II)