Press Releases

Tourist arrivals +23,4%

On the basis of the results of the Passengers Survey, arrivals of tourists reached 101.481 in February 2018, compared to 82.209 in February 2017, recording an increase of 23,4%. February 2018 had the highest volume of tourist arrivals ever recorded in Cyprus during the specific month.

For the period of January-February 2018 arrivals of tourists totalled 177.348, compared to 144.820 in the corresponding period of 2017, recording an increase of 22,5% and outnumbering the total arrivals ever recorded in Cyprus during the first two months of the year (Table 1).

Analysis of changes

Tourist arrivals from the United Kingdom increased by 29,5% in February 2018, compared to February 2017, while an increase of 11,3% was recorded for tourists from Greece. Increases were also recorded from other important tourist markets, such as Israel (63,8%) and Germany (86,7%). Contrary to that, a decrease of 17,0% 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 February 2018, with a proportion of 35,1%, while arrivals from Greece comprise 11,9% of total arrivals, from Russia 11,8% and from Israel 9,0% (Table 2).

Characteristics of tourists

For a percentage of 62,6% of tourists, the purpose of their trip in February 2018 was holidays, for 20,1% visit to friends and relatives and for 17,2% business (Table 3).

Men comprise 48,3% of tourists and women 51,7%, whilst most of the tourists belonged to the age group of 20-44 years (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 from data sent by the Analysis and Statistics Office of the Cyprus Police.

For more information:

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

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(EA)