Tourist arrivals surge by 15.2 per cent in July

Tourist arrivals reached 523,718 in July 2023 compared with 454,657 in July 2022, an increase of 15.2 per cent, the statistical service announced on Thursday.

For the period of January – July 2023, arrivals totalled 2.137 million compared with 1.676 million in the same period last year, an increase of 27.5 per cent.

Arrivals from the United Kingdom were the main source of tourism for July 2023, with a share of 33.6 per cent at 175,924, followed by Israel with 12.4 per cent or 64,711 arrivals, Poland with 5.5 per cent some 28,957, Sweden with 4.4 per cent or 22,994, while Germany held 3.6 per cent or 19,030 arrivals, and Greece had a share of 3.1 per cent or 16,.092.

For 85.4 per cent of arrivals in July, the purpose of their trip was holidays while 11.3 per cent came to visit to friends and relatives and 3.3 per cent for business reasons.

In addition, a total 184,335 residents of Cyprus returned from a trip abroad in July compared with 134,198 in the corresponding month last year, an increase of 37.4 per cent.

The main countries from which residents of Cyprus returned in July were Greece with a share of 38.8 per cent, the UK 10.9 per cent, Italy 6.4 per cent and France 4.3 per cent.

The purpose of travel for the residents of Cyprus in July was mainly holidays, with a percentage of 71.1 per cent, while business reasons clocked in at 13.6 per cent, studies 13.7 per cent and other reasons 1.6 per cent.