Cyprus tourism arrivals slip again in September

Russian market still strong

 

Tourism arrivals in Cyprus fell for the seventh month this year in September, dropping by 2.1% year on year to 296,532 in September 2006 compared with 302,833 in September 2005.

So far this year, arrivals have risen only in July and April compared with the corresponding period of 2005.

On the period January-September 2006, arrivals fell by 2.3% to 1,951,173.

In September, there was a 3.9% decline in the number of tourists from the UK, which supplies more than half of all tourists.

The second largest market, Germany, also fell by 17.4% year on year.

However, there was a turnaround in arrivals from Greece, with arrivals rising by 22.4%, after a big drop following the plane crash in Athens in August 2005.

Having gained second place in August, the Russian tourism market slipped to third place in September and make take third place for the whole year.

In January-September arrivals from Russia were up by 18.3% compared with the same period of 2005.

The United Arab Emirates is also a strong market, with arrivals up 19.2% in the same period.

Meanwhile, other data showed that revenue slipped by 3.9% year on year to CYP 155 mln in September. F.M.