CYPRUS: Tourist arrivals hit an historic high for April

Cyprus tourist arrivals in April increased by 4.8%, recording a historic high for the month helped by an influx of British, Russian and Israeli holidaymakers, official data showed Friday.

A small annual increase of 0.5% was also recorded for the first four months of the year, which was also a new record.

Arrivals of tourists in April reached 329,308 from 314,143 in the same month last year, recording an increase of 4.8%.

“April 2019 had the highest volume of tourist arrivals ever recorded in Cyprus during that specific month,” the Statistical Service said.

During four-month period January –April 2019 arrivals of tourists reached 686,783 from 683,581 in the same period of 2018, recording an increase of 0.5% and outnumbering the total arrivals ever recorded in Cyprus during the first four months of a year.

Tourist arrivals from key markets; the UK rose 5.4% in April, there was an increase of 2.3% in tourists from Russia and a 37% hike from Israel.

Tourist arrivals from Greece remained at the same level as last year.

There was a drop of 16.4% in tourist arrivals from Germany and 4.5% from Sweden.

The UK was the main source of tourism for Cyprus, with a 35.4% share, followed by Russia with 15.2%, Israel 7.1% and Greece 6.2%.

Meanwhile, Cyprus residents travelling abroad also increased in April by 3.1%. A total of 116,970 residents of Cyprus returned from a trip abroad in April compared to 113,477 in April last year.

An increase of 6.4% was recorded in the trips of residents to the UK, as well as a 53.9% increase to Russia.