Tourist arrivals show recovery in February

Tourist arrivals recovered in February from the dip seen in January with a five per cent increase on figures from last year, data released on Tuesday showed.

As a result, the increase in tourist arrivals for the first two months of 2024 reached 1.6 per cent compared to the corresponding period in 2023, a year when record arrivals were recorded.

At the same time, the number of trips made by Cypriot residents abroad in February showed an increase of almost 12 per cent over the previous year.

According to the statistical service, tourist arrivals in February 2024 amounted to 125,034, compared to 119,081 in February 2023, marking an increase of 5 per cent.

For the period January-February 2024, tourist arrivals totalled 212,995, compared to 209,630 in the corresponding period of 2023.

Arrivals from the United Kingdom were the main source of tourism in February, accounting for 24.6 per cent (30,774) of total arrivals, followed by arrivals from Poland at 13.3 per cent (16,591), Israel at 10.6 per cent (13,290) and from Greece at 10.3 per cent (12,835).

The purpose of travel in February was vacation for 66.8 per cent of visitors, visiting friends or relatives for 17.8 per cent and business for 14.2 per cent.

The trips of Cypriot residents abroad in February 2024 amounted to 114,110 compared to 102,001 in February 2023.

The main countries from which Cypriots returned in February 2024 were Greece with 32 per cent (36,481), the United Kingdom with 11.6 per cent (13,288) and Italy with 4.6 per cent (5,306).

The purpose of travel of Cypriot residents in February 2024 was mainly holidays with a percentage of 70.6 per cent, while professional reasons accounted for 23.4 per cent, studies for 4.6 per cent and other reasons for 1.4 per cent.