Tourist arrivals reached 71,921 in February

The number of tourist arrivals in February 2022 was 71,921, a 32% decrease compared to February 2020, before the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic in Cyprus, data released by the Cyprus Statistical Service show on Wednesday.

For the period January - February 2022, tourist arrivals amounted to 115,865, compared to 8,936 in the corresponding period of 2021 and 191,214 in the period January - February 2020. Compared to the first two months of 2020, tourist arrivals recorded a 39.4% decrease.

Arrivals from the UK were the main source of tourism in February 2022, accounting for 25.9% (18,618) of total arrivals, while arrivals from Greece accounted for 12.2% (8. 771), 8.0% were arrivals from Russia (5,732), 7.9% arrivals from Ukraine (5,711), 7.8% arrivals from Israel (5,639) and 6.4% arrivals from Poland (4,612).        
                             
According to the Statistical Service, the purpose of travel in February 2022 was holidays for 64.0% of tourists, a visit to friends or relatives for 21.5% and business for 14.5%. Similarly, in February 2021, 11.6% visited Cyprus for holidays, 35.2% for meeting friends or relatives and 53.2% for business purposes.