Russia leads tourist arrivals to Cyprus

Tourist arrivals in August marked an increase of 4.3%, reaching 304.264 compared to 291.583 in August 2009, the Cyprus Employers and Industrialists Federation (OEB) has said in a statement.

The Federation added that overall, tourist arrivals increased by 0.7% between January 1st and August 31st 2010, and income between January 1st and July 31st rose to 809.4 million Euro compared to 798.3 million Euro for the same period in 2009, thus increasing by 1,4%.

The increase in arrivals in August is attributed to the Russian market, which now ranks second in arrivals instead of Germany, reaching 81.1%. Arrivals from the UK continued to exhibit a downward trend by 5%, while arrivals from Germany were up by 8.5% and from Greece, arrivals indicated a decrease of 13.9%.

According to OEB, arrivals data reflect the development in the economies where the tourists come from. Both the economies of the UK and Greece are still facing problems as a result of the global economic crisis, while Germany is exhibiting a limited growth. Russia’s lead in arrivals is due to competitive factors.

The Federation notes that due to the fragile economic recovery on an international level and reserved forecasts regarding development, “it is clear that we cannot be optimistic about a speedy recovery”.