December tourist arrivals up 0.1% in Cyprus

Fewer Cypriots travelled abroad

Tourist arrivals were up 0.1% in December compared to same month 2012, according to data from the statistical service Cystat.
The regular Passengers Survey showed that tourist arrivals reached 54,813 in December 2013 compared to 54,772 in December 2012, an increase of 0.1%.
An increase of 1.6% was recorded in tourist arrivals from the U.K. (from 16,847 in December 2012 to 17,115 in December 2013), but arrivals from Greece fell by 16.3% and from Russia by 9.1%, despite optimistic projections from government officials.
Meanwhile, there was a 2.3% year-on-year fall in the number Cypriot residents returning from a trip abroad in December 2013.
Cystat said that 80,459 Cyprus residents returned from a trip abroad in December 2013 compared to 82,352 in the same month of 2012.
There was a 4.2% drop on trips to Greece (27,194 in December 2013 compared to 28,385 in December 2012) and 8.4% to the U.K. (26,279 compared to 28,681 in the previous year).