Revenue from tourism surges 13.2%

Revenue from tourism jumped by 13.2% year-on-year to CYP 47.6 mln in March 2005 compared to CYP 42.1 mln following a 22% increase in the number of arrivals in March as the Catholic Easter boosted arrivals and revenue numbers.

The Department of Statistics reported that for the period January – March 2005, revenue from tourism is estimated at CYP 91.8 mln compared to CYP 89.3 mln in the corresponding period of 2004, recording an increase of 2.8%.

The total number of arrivals in the first quarter was up 10% year-on-year to 264.643 persons compared to 2004, and is up 17.2% compared to number of arrivals in the same period in 2003 and just 1.5% up compared to 2002 first quarter arrival figures.

In terms of revenue, the first quarter of 2005 is still down by 3.3% compared to the first quarter of 2003 and down by 16.2% compared to the same period in 2002.