Cyprus tourism down 10.9% in 2009

Arrivals of tourists in Cyprus dropped by 10.9% in 2009, marking their worst performance since 2002, when the September 11th attacks led to a sharp drop in global tourism.
Total arrivals reached 2,141,193 compared with 2,403,750 in 2008.
In December alone, arrivals fell by 8.2% to 66,201, compared with 72,127 in December 2008.
The UK remained the largest market in 2009, with its 1,069,910 arrivals accounting for 50.0% of all tourists. However, this was less than in 2008, when the UK accounted for 51.7%.
With three consecutive years in the second spot, Russia is now indisputably the second largest tourism market for Cyprus, with 148,734 arrivals. This is despite the fact that Russian arrivals fell by 17.8%.
Greece was the third largest market, with arrivals of 131,871, down only 0.9% compared with 2008.

Meanwhile the Statistical Service has announced the publication of the annual report "Tourism Statistics" for 2008.
The report provides detailed data on the movement of travellers, tourist flow, revenue from tourism, movement of permanent residents and overnight stays in tourist accommodation establishments.