Tourist arrivals plunge by 84% in 2020

Tourist arrivals in Cyprus reached a mere 631,609 plunging by 84.1% year on year in one of the worst ever season for Cyprus’ tourist industry which took a heavy blow by the coronavirus pandemic.

Hit by the Covid-19 pandemic the 2020 tourist season ended four record years of tourist arrivals in in Cyprus. In 2019 tourist arrivals amounted to 3.97 million.
 
Tourist arrivals nosedived in 2020 as Cyprus enforced lock down measures to limit the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic including a two-month travel ban which was gradually lifted in early July, as well as travel restrictions imposed by Cyprus’ main tourist markets.
 
In December, tourist arrivals amounted to just 9,682, marking a annual reduction of 91.2%, Cystat said.
 
In 2020, tourist arrivals from the United Kingdom, Cyprus’ main tourist market, decreased by 82.9% to 228,047 compared with 1.3 million in 2019.
 
According to Cystat, arrivals from Greece dropped by an annual 63.4% to 62,788 from 171,512 in 2019, while arrivals from Germany declined by 60.1% to 60,430 compared to 151,500 in 2019.