More than 390,000 foreigners visited the north during January and February this year, mostly from Turkey, according to Turkish Cypriot newspaper Kibris on Sunday.

It also reported a significant increase in visitors from Germany.

According to the report, the number of German tourists visiting has risen by 74.9 per cent in a year. In the first two months of the year, 4,817 Germans visited.

It also referred to a reduced number of Iranian visitors, which fell by 28.8 per cent, from 4,752 to 3,385.

From the total 390,516 foreign visitors in the first two months, 345,847 were Turkish, and 44,669 from elsewhere.

After the Germans, the largest group was from Pakistan (2,704, a rise of 38 per cent over the same period last year).

The number of Israeli visitors also increased, from 1,360 to 1,676 or by 23.2 per cent.

According to the ‘ministry of tourism’ 460,031 arrived by sea and air, again the majority of which were Turkish.