Cyprus tourism arrivals down 15.2% in Q1

Tourism arrivals in Cyprus fell by 15.2% compared with the same period of the previous year in the first quarter, reaching 194,127 compared with 228,962 in the corresponding period of 2008. The performance was even worse in March. The Passengers Survey showed that arrivals of tourists reached 90,434 in March, a fall of 16.4% compared with the 108,164 recorded in March 2008.
The main problem is a collapse in the UK market, which accounts for more than half of all tourists. A combination of recession and a weak national currency have left Cypriot holidays beyond reach.
A decrease of 26.9% was recorded in tourist arrivals from the UK , to 41,083 in March 2009 compared with 56,217 in March 2008.
However, currency weakness cannot have been the only problem as there was an 11.7% decrease in arrivals from Greece (down to 8,068 compared to 9,142).
On the other hand, there was an increase of 25.1% in arrivals from Germany (from 10,244 in March 2008 to 12,812 in March 2009).
It is possible that a large proportion of trips from Greece are business-related.

Outbound market also slips
Meanwhile, the outbound market has also slipped. In February 68,555 residents of Cyprus returned from a trip abroad compared with 74,823 in the corresponding month last year, thus recording a decrease of 8.4%.
In February 2009 there was a decrease of 21.2% in the trips of residents to Greece (24,834 in February 2009 compared to 31,527 in February 2008).