Cypriots made more than 237,000 trips abroad for business purposes in 2024, while Cyprus itself recorded close to 279,000 business-related arrivals by foreign visitors over the same period, according to the Cyprus Statistical Service (Cystat).

The data shows that business travel in both 2023 and 2024 remained broadly stable and at higher levels than earlier years, reflecting a continued recovery from the sharp disruption caused by the pandemic, which had led to a steep decline in travel overall, including for professional reasons.

In detail, residents of Cyprus made a total of 3,366,862 trips in 2024.

Of these, 262,666 were for business purposes. The vast majority involved travel abroad, with 237,874 trips, while 24,792 concerned movements within the island.

At the same time, business-related arrivals to Cyprus also increased.

Out of 4,040,200 total arrivals recorded at Cypriot airports in 2024, 278,878 were linked to business travel, underlining the island’s role as a regional meeting point for commercial and professional activity.

A closer look at the origin of these trips shows that Europe continues to dominate business arrivals to Cyprus.

Of the nearly 279,000 business trips recorded, around 217,000 involved residents of European countries.

Greece ranked first by a clear margin, with 59,135 business trips to Cyprus, maintaining its long-standing position as the leading source of business arrivals.

The United Kingdom followed in second place with 33,430 trips, reflecting the close economic and professional ties between the two countries.

Israel ranked third, with 27,729 business trips, emphasisng the growing cooperation seen in recent years across sectors such as investment, technology and energy.

Germany and Poland completed the top five, with 16,482 and 13,964 business trips respectively, pointing to rising commercial engagement with Cyprus.

France followed with 8,459 arrivals, while Italy recorded 7,646 business trips.

Further down the list, Romania registered 5,571 business arrivals and Bulgaria 4,798. Lebanon also featured prominently with 4,771 trips, while Switzerland, including Liechtenstein, recorded 4,524 business arrivals.

The top fifteen were completed by the Netherlands with 4,277 trips, Sweden with 4,200, Spain with 4,116 and the United Arab Emirates with 4,114.

Overall, the figures indicate that business travel to Cyprus in 2024 continued to be driven mainly by Europe, while flows from the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East also remained significant.

In this context, the government’s strategy to position Cyprus as a regional business and investment hub appears to be gaining traction.

The data shows, for example, that business trips from the United Arab Emirates rose to more than 4,100 in 2024, up from 2,782 a year earlier.

Arrivals from the United States also increased to 6,565, compared with 4,441 in 2023.

By contrast, business travel from Lebanon declined to 4,771 from 6,035 the previous year, reflecting the impact of wider geopolitical developments in the region.