Cyprus tourism arrivals down 10.8% so far this year

The Cyprus tourism sector suffered another steep decline in June, with arrivals at only 260,931, a drop of 15.1% compared with the 307,237 recorded in June 2008.
The main reason was a weak UK market hobbled by rising unemployment, a weak sterling and unattractive prices in Cyprus.
Arrivals from the UK, which is the largest market accounting for around 50% of all arrivals, fell by 19.5% to 129,032, from 160,373 in June 2008.
There was also a sharp fall in the number of visitors from the more promising market of Russia, which has seen an increase in arrivals in recent years.
Arrivals from Russia were down 18.8% to 23,961, from 29,494) in June 2008. There was also a 10.8% decrease in arrivals from Sweden to 16,711, from 18,737 last year.
On a slightly more positive note, there was an increase of 11.8% in the number of tourist arrivals from Finland (from 4,173 in June 2008 to 4,664 in June 2009).
For the period January – June 2009 arrivals of tourists fell by 10.8% to 883,002, from 989,851 in the corresponding period of 2008.
Tourism revenue in January-May was EUR 390.4 mln, or 11.7% lower than in the same period of 2009.