CYPRUS: Tourist arrivals jump 8% in January

Tourist arrivals in Cyprus for January were the highest ever recorded over a 12–month period and spiked 8% on last year, official data showed Monday.

Arrivals of tourists reached 81,970 in January compared to 75,867 in the same month of 2018, recording an increase of 8%.

“January 2019 had the highest volume of tourist arrivals ever recorded in Cyprus during the specific month,” said a Finance Ministry statement.

Tourist arrivals from the United Kingdom (23,447) jumped 17.6% in January from 2018 while an increase of 5.4% was also recorded in tourists from Israel (8,684).

On the downside, there was a 2% decrease in tourists from Greece and 27.3% dip from Russia.

The United Kingdom constituted the main source of tourism for Cyprus for January with a

28.6% share of arrivals followed by Greece 13.7%, Israel 10.6% and Russia fourth with 9.6%.

The tourism boom has helped Cyprus return to growth following a €10-billion bailout to rescue its crumbling economy and insolvent banks in March 2013.

Income from tourism now accounts for about 15% of the country’s gross domestic product and is credited with underpinning a quick recovery.

A record 3.93 million tourists enjoyed a Cyprus holiday last year.