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Tourist arrivals hit new high in 2018

18/01/2019 10:56

Tourists arrivals hit new record in 2018, reaching 3,938,625 compared to 3,652,073 in the corresponding period of 2017, recording an increase of 7.7%.

On the basis of the results of the Passengers Survey released Thursday by the Statistical Service of Cyprus, arrivals of tourists reached 106,563 in December 2018 compared to 98,924 in December 2017, recording an increase of 7.7%. December 2018 had the highest volume of tourist arrivals ever recorded in Cyprus during the specific month.

Regarding the main markets in 2018, arrivals from the UK increased 5.9% reaching 1,3 millions, arrivals from Russia decreased 5% to 783,631, arrivals from Israel decreased 11.2% to 232,561, arrivals from Germany increased 0.2% to 189,200 and arrivals from Greece increased 9.8% to 186,370.

Tourist arrivals from the United Kingdom increased by 13.6% in December 2018 compared to December 2017 while an increase of 13.5% was also recorded for tourists from Greece. Contrary to that, a decrease of 18.8% in tourist arrivals from Russia and 7.2% from Israel were recorded.

The United Kingdom constitutes the main source of tourism for Cyprus for December 2018, with a proportion of 30.1% while arrivals from Greece comprise 14.8% of total arrivals, from Russia 9.4%  and from Israel 8.7%.

For a percentage of 51.1% of tourists, the purpose of their trip in December 2018 was holidays, for 36.9% visit to friends and relatives and for 11.9% business.