Deputy Tourism Minister satisfied with the results, optimistic for 2025

Tourism revenue in Cyprus reached €454.1 million in September 2024, according to the statistical service’s passenger survey.

This marks a 6 per cent increase compared to September 2023, when tourism revenue stood at €428.4 million.

For the first nine months of 2024, total tourism revenue was estimated at €2.58 billion, a 4.9 per cent rise from €2.45 billion during the same period in 2023.

The average expenditure per tourist increased marginally by 1.4 per cent year-on-year, rising to €891.29 in September 2024 from €879.13 in September 2023.

However, daily expenditure decreased slightly, from €101.05 to €99.03.

British tourists, making up 35.5 per cent of total arrivals in September 2024, spent an average of €112.35 per day.

Meanwhile, Israeli tourists, representing 10.7 per cent of arrivals, spent €150.63 daily, and Polish visitors, comprising 8.3 per cent of arrivals, spent €88.96 per day.

Tourist arrivals for September 2024 totalled 509,463, reflecting a 4.5 per cent increase compared to 487,350 in September 2023.

The service noted that the data was collected through interviews at departure points in Larnaca and Paphos airports, covering all areas under government control in Cyprus.

Commenting on the latest results, Deputy Minister of Tourism Costas Koumis said that “2024 has rightfully established itself as a landmark year for tourism in Cyprus”.

“We are quite satisfied with the revenue results for the January–September period, as well as the arrival figures, which we have statistical measurements for up to the end of October,” Koumis stated.

He added that “the numbers now definitively demonstrate that tourism in our country has not only rebounded but has firmly returned to the high performance seen in the past, despite the many challenges we faced this year”.

Emphasising that “numbers are not and have never been an end in themselves,” the deputy minister expressed satisfaction with “the conclusions drawn from the figures, which confirm the positive trajectory of tourism”.

He further remarked that it is “equally significant that there has been no decrease in the average per capita expenditure, a trend observed in other destinations”.

“We move forward now, looking ahead to 2025 with optimism, ready to address all the challenges that characterise the tourism ecosystem,” he said.

“We remain focused on destination management”, Koumis continued, “investing in rural areas and the interior of the island, while keeping the protection of the natural environment and delivering benefits to local communities high on our list of priorities”.

Meanwhile, the Deputy Ministry of Tourism stated that “the latest measurement confirms the upward trajectory of the tourism sector in our country”

It concluded by saying that the latest figures affirm “the effectiveness of decisions made regarding target markets, and the overall resilience of the sector”.