Coronavirus: January tourist arrivals plummet 95.5 per cent

With the coronavirus pandemic still raging, Cyprus welcomed only 3,889 tourists in January, a massive 95.5 per cent slump compared to last January’s 85,622 tourist arrivals, according to figures published by the Cyprus statistical service on Wednesday.

Travel by residents also plummeted by 90.1 per cent, with figures showing 13,307 residents returned to the island from abroad in January 2021 compared to 134,507 in the corresponding month the previous years.

Cystat said that arrivals from Greece were the main source of tourism for the month of January 2021, with a share of 48.4 per cent of total arrivals, followed by Germany with 8.8 per cent, while other countries accounted for smaller percentages, it added.

Tourist arrivals from Greece were down by 79.5 per cent compared to January 2020 and those from Germany lower by 79.7 per cent.

Six out of ten of visitors (61.8 per cent), 11.9 per cent cited holidays and 26.3 per cent visit to friends and relatives.

The corresponding figures for January 2020 were 57.6 per cent for holidays, 22.9 per cent visited friends or relatives and 19.2 per cent visited Cyprus for business reasons.

A total number of 13,307 residents of Cyprus returned from a trip abroad in January 2021, compared to 134,507 in the corresponding month last year, recording a decrease of 90.1% per cent.

The main countries from which the residents of Cyprus returned in January 2021, were Greece, the United Kingdom and Russia. As compared to January 2020, the returns of residents from Greece decreased by 92.0 per cent, returns from the United Kingdom decreased by 92.6 per cent and from Russia by 85.5 per cent.

The January 2021 statistics were obtained from processing of the data of the electronic platform the “Cyprus Flight Pass” which all passengers aiming to travel to Cyprus must submit with information in relation to their flight, their country of residence, the purpose of their visit, as well as other demographic characteristics.