Russians, Italians the biggest spenders in Cyprus

Revenue up 3.5% in Jan-August

Britons may still be the biggest source of tourists, but in terms of profitability, figures suggest that businesses should be targeting the Russian and Italian markets.

Revenue figures for August show that Russians (now the second largest tourist market) spent the most while holidaying in Cyprus, with average expenditure of CYP 602.8 per person in August, a rise of more than 16% compared with August 2005. Russians also numbered among the highest per-day spenders, at CYP 44.2 per day in August 2006.

Average expenditure for all tourists was CYP 492.3 per person and CYP 41 per day.

Italians were the second highest spenders, at CYP 585 per person, although this was slightly less than in August 2005. Ireland came a close third with average expenditure of CYP 584. The Irish were the highest per-diem spenders at CYP 53.6 per day.

Some of the smallest spenders are closer to home. Tourists from Greece spent less than half the amount of Russians at CYP 257.0 per person and only CYP 18.6 per day, while Israelis spent only CYP 201 per day, although at a slightly higher CYP 33 per person.

Being closer to Cyprus should in theory translate into lower airfares, though this is not always the case in practice. Another possible reason why Greeks spend less is perhaps because they stay with friends or family, while the Israeli figures may be distorted by the fact that some are known to travel to northern Cyprus for the casinos.

On the basis of the results of the Passenger Survey, the Statistical Service reported that overall revenue from tourism reached CYP 155.0 mln in August 2006 compared with CYP 161.3 mln in the corresponding month of the previous year, recording a decrease of 3.9%.

For the period January-August 2006 revenue from tourism is estimated at CYP 697.2 mln compared with CYP 673.9 mln in the corresponding period of 2005, recording an increase of 3.5%.

Fiona Mullen